DUBAI — The Ministry of Education yesterday announced an amended ministerial decree stipulating that private schools in the country could increase tuition fees, with immediate effect, between five and 30 per cent, subject to its last increase.
However, education officials in Dubai said the decree may not apply to the private schools in the emirate as they had already been permitted increases up to 16 per cent for the new academic year.
In February this year, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) of Dubai had fixed the maximum fee increase for all private schools at 16 per cent for academic years 2007-08 and 2008-09.
Last month, Khaleej Times reported that Minister of Education Dr Hanif Hassan had decided that fee increases for schools, which have already increased the fees in the last academic year (2007-08), could be between five and 10 per cent. The schools that had not increased the fees for two consecutive academic years could increase them between 10 and 20 per cent and if there has been no increase for three years, the hike can range between 20 and 30 per cent.
The minister has now amended the decree after closely scrutinising reports of a committee tasked with evaluating the practices adopted by private schools to increase the fees, since increase percentages varied from one emirate to another.
A top official from the Dubai Schools Agency, which is part of the KHDA, told Khaleej Times that private schools in the emirate might not go with the decree as the fee increase has been capped at 16 per cent for this academic year.
'I do not think Dubai schools will go with the decree this academic year as we just allowed schools to increase fees by 16 per cent. We will have a talk with the ministry to see how we can align ourselves with the policy.'
Educational authorities in the KHDA, which monitors private and public schools in Dubai, however, emphasised that they would be well within the framework of the Education Ministry and will work with the ministry to take a decision.
The various educational zones and councils will be entrusted with the implementation of the decree in their respective emirates. A clause in the decree also states that certain schools could be exempted from the amended decree, albeit on the discretion of the minister.
By Preeti Kannan (Our staff reporter)