DEZ and MoE in collision course on school fees

The issue spilled out in the open when parents of students of a private school in Dubai lodged a complaint against the school authorities for increasing tuition fee by 10 per cent for 2005-06, when the management had effected a hike only last year. This, they complained, was in violation of a regulation which stipulates that private schools are entitled for fee hike only once in three years.

The parents argued the school management had not introduced any new activity or improved facilities for it to justify the fee hike within a year. They said most of the teaching staff in the school conducted private tuitions to compensate for their low salaries, besides complaining of overcrowded classes. For want of classrooms, the school management increased the number of students in each class to over 32.

The school management, however, brushed aside all arguments stating that they had applied for a fee hike with the Ministry, and that the latter had given its approval. The management said they were not answerable to the complaints.

DEZ, meanwhile, directed the departments concerned to check the veracity of the complaints. The officials reported that the school had, indeed, violated Term No. 51 of the Executive Regulation of the Educational Law.

DEZ reacted strongly and issued a circular to all foreign private schools stating that the 10 per cent hike in tuition fee was in clear violation of the executive regulation No. 51, which stipulates that no school would be allowed to increase its fee for three years from the date of last increase, or three years from the date of launching the school. In the specific instance of the Dubai private school, DEZ felt that the Licencing Department in the Ministry should have rejected the application for fee hike since it was granted only last year.