Sharjah schools warned against illegal fee hike

Sharjah - Irked parents take their grouse to Sharjah Education Zone.

Any school in Sharjah which raises fee without approval from Ministry of Education (MoE) will face strict action, the Sharjah Education Zone has warned.
The warning came after a large number of irked parents approached Sharjah Education Zone to complain against one of the schools in Sharjah which hiked the fee by more than 10 per cent without sending any notice regarding it to parents before the opening of the school.
The school management didn't send any fee hike notice in advance so that we are unable to transfer our children to another school, the parents alleged.
Rabha Salim, a parent, said now all schools have closed admissions and her three children won't be accepted anywhere. "When we approached the school to pay the fee for the new academic year, we were shocked when they told us that the fee has been hiked," she said.
Lubna, another parent, said that she had to pay Dh4,000 tuition fees for her four children. "The school must notify us to make arrangements and be prepared for it. The school refused to register her children without paying the fees."
Another parent said she was rattled over the hike and it will affect her budget for the entire year.
The Sharjah Education Zone pointed out the school fee hike is approved through special committees that study the situation of schools which place the request for the raise. They check their eligibility in the case and no school is supposed to make a request of an increase in fee without a logical reason.
No school is allowed to increase the fees before referring it to the Department of Private Education in the Ministry of Education. Any school found violating the regulation and increasing the fees without approval will face penalties, an official said.
The official said the ministry monitors the tuition fees for private schools through committees that visit schools and ensure their compliance with the prescribed fees, while stressing that the MoE does not agree to raising of the fees until it receives request from the private schools and only when they ensure that the hike is being carried out according to the required conditions and standards.

afkarali@khaleejtimes.com

• Sharjah