Private schools await ministry’s green signal to increase tuition fees
It is understood that several private schools in the country are awaiting the go ahead from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to increase their fees in the 2017-18 academic year.
The schools are arguing for the fee hike in order to meet their growing expenses as well as maintain the quality of education following an increased number of students seeking admissions, reported Qatar Tribune.
“The need to raise tuition fee is something we’ve felt this year. We decided last December to apply for an increase in our tuition fee to facilitate the growth and provide the necessary elements for a quality education,” said Qatar-Finland International School (QFIS) principal Juha Repo.
“Most schools seem to be suffering from a pyramid structure where there’s a huge demand of lower grade and KG seats,” added Repo.
When the number of students increases, the school’s administration is forced to increase facilities and that always comes at an additional expense.
“The increasing number of applicants we get each year is unfortunately becoming more of a burden rather than an advantage. In order to accommodate incoming applicants that add to the large number of existing students, we had to increase the number of teachers from 70 to 180,” said Amor Dhahri, General Manager of the Tunisian School in Doha.
“Moreover, in the light of the increase in cost of living in Qatar, salary of teachers and staff also need to be augmented," she added.
“The number of students enrolled increased from 2,169 last year to over 2,500 now, with almost 500 students in the KG section. We had to expand our premises in order to comply with the ministry's standards. We also needed a lot of licences and approvals from the Ministry of Municipality and Environment and the Ministry of Interior’s Civil Defense. Therefore, raising our tuition fee has become a necessity,” he added.
Several Indian schools have also been clamoring for a hike in school fees, citing their efforts in improving the quality of education by introducing modern technologies and facilities.
something needs to be fixed here immediately otherwise our salaries will go straight to school accounts sections as soon as they arrive :*(
More students more fees and more income, so no need to increase the fees as the schools already earning more. BTW i am thinking to switch to school job atleast teachers getting salary increment :).
We are awaiting the decision with baited breath.... please keep us updated with further articles