Hamad Al Ghali (right), Director of Private Schools Licensing Office, and Hassan Al Mohammadi, Director of Public Relations and Communication Department, at the press conference yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot/The Peninsula
Doha: The Ministry of Education and Higher Education has approved the requests of 28 private schools and kindergartens to increase their tuition fees from three to 10 percent for the academic year 2019-20.
The Ministry has also announced to open the registration for the students of all grades in private schools and kindergartens for the academic year 2019-20 from March 3, 2019 until October 17, 2019. However, the deadline for the registration of those students who come from abroad is the end of January 2020.
“A total of 126 private schools and kindergartens, out of 287 private schools and kindergartens operating in the country, applied seeking approval to increase the fees,” said Hamad Al Ghali, Director of Private Schools Licensing Office at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education while addressing a press conference held at the headquarters of the Ministry yesterday.
The press conference was also attended by the Hassan Al Mohammadi, Director of Public Relations and Communication Department at the Ministry.
The 28 private schools and kindergartens which got approval of the Ministry to increase the fees include Al Mujtama Primary, Preparatory and Secondary School (Girls); Al Falah Primary School (Boys); Iqra English School (Boys); Al Noor Language Kindergarten; King’s College Doha; Bhavans Public School - Al Wakrah; Bhavans Public School - Old Airport; Bhavans Public School - As Salatah Al Jadidah; Braem Al Khor KG School; Step One Kindergarten; Al Kholoud International Kindergarten; Lebanese School; Oxford English School; Al Hammad International Developed School; English Modern School - Al Khor; Cairo Kindergarten; GEMS American Academy; Shantiniketan Indian School; Ideal Indian School; Sudanese School; Alnoor Language School; New Generation Kindergarten; Bright Future International School; Educare Academy; Cairo Private School (Girls); Cairo Private School (Boys); Noble International School and Bangladesh Mashhoor Ul Haq Memorial High School.
“Two schools and kindergartens received approval of the Ministry to increase the fees by 10 percent. One school was allowed to increase fees eight percent. Three schools and kindergartens got permission to raise fees by seven percent. One school got approval to increase fees by six percent. Five schools and kindergartens were allowed to increase fees by five percent while four schools and 15 schools were nodded to raise four and three percent fees respectively,” said Al Ghali.
He said that the applications for increasing fees were received from middle of October to middle of December 2018. “A study was conducted by a special committee, ‘Administrative and Financial Team’, to assess the requests of the schools seeking raise in tuition and other additional fees for academic year 2019-20,” said Al Ghali.
He said that the Ministry approved 28 requests and rejected 98 applications on certain grounds based on the recommendations of the committee.
“The assessment report suggested to allow 28 private schools and kindergarten to increase the fees because they needed financial support to develop and improve the education quality,” said Al Ghali.
He said that the beneficiary schools were hit by financial deficit as per their financial statements despite they were complying to operate with required capacity. “Another reason for allowing schools to increase the fees was shifting to new campuses.
Changes in rent structure and inflation rate announced by the country were also considered to give permission to increase the fees,” said Al Ghali.
He said that the Ministry rejected the requests of 98 private schools and kindergartens seeking to increase the fees because they failed in meeting the requirements as they did not attach three financial statements of their schools. “The applications did not have enough evidences and schools were found in good financial condition. The assessment report also found that the schools suffered losses or their profits declined due to mismanagement not due to low fees,” said Al Ghali.
He said that the assessment team conducted the study on the requests in two phases and made recommendations about granting permission to increase the fess or rejected the applications to the Committee for Private Schools Affairs.
Speaking about the registration in private schools, Hamad Al Ghali said that school shall determine the appropriate registration mechanism.
He said that parents should check the guidelines for registration of students in private school available on the website of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
Regarding fees for reserving seats, Al Ghali said: “The parents should not be asked to pay fees for seat reservation before March 1, 2019. He said that fees for reserving seats will be paid from March 3, 2019 to May, 2, 2019.”
