DUBAI — About ten private schools in the emirate that had requested for approval for a fee increase have been given the thumbs down.
The schools, including a prominent educational group, had written to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) for permission to hike fees above the ceiling of 16 per cent decided by the authority in March, citing spiralling costs and increased teachers’ salaries.
The KHDA decision is binding on the 137 private schools in Dubai, which have approximately 153,000 pupils.
However, the authority has turned down the requests.
Mohammed Darwish, KHDA’s chief of Licensing and Customer Relations, said in a written statement to Khaleej Times, “We have received requests from fewer than ten schools, including one education group, for overriding our decision of the maximum allowable fee increase of 16 per cent over the two academic years of 2007-08 and 2008-09. We have met with all parties several times, and again reviewed all of our data and concluded that the decision is both reasonable and fair and will apply to all in the category equally.”
In fact, last week, Gems had written to the parents of students of six Indian curriculum schools within the group that the fee cap for two years announced late last month was equivalent to eight per cent per year at a time when the annual inflation ranges from the official nine per cent to unofficial rates of 32 per cent.
“During this period, the operational costs of schools have risen dramatically, our staff housing costs alone have increased 257 per cent over the last three years. As a result, schools that have served the community for several years are unable to restructure and thus unable to meet these increased costs and the need to significantly enhance the teachers’ salaries. This is not the case with newly established schools in Dubai that have the liberty to set their fees at sustainable market levels and offer substantially higher teacher salaries,” stated the letter, a copy of which is with Khaleej Times.
It went on to say that despite the cap, the schools have awarded its teachers an average salary increase of 20-25 per cent with effect from April 1, 2008, adding that “we continue to engage in dialogue with the regulatory authorities”.
The letter has caused worry among parents who felt this was cautioning them of a possible fee hike. “When we received the letter last week, we thought they are preparing us for an increase. However, I am glad the education body has turned down their request,” said a parent.
Darwish added in his statement that some schools which did enforce the entire 16 per cent increase last year did not perhaps allocate those additional resources to teacher salaries. “But we remain confident that within the mix of last year’s exercised increase of 16 per cent and both years’ profit margins, there is likely to be the elasticity to address the important issue of teacher compensation,” he said.
Schools, on the other hand, expressed disappointment at the authority’s decision to not allow further fee increase. Monica Harter, head of Corporate Communications at Gems, said, “The authority’s decision to cap fees presents challenges for the affordable schools that have served the community for many years. The decision doesn’t appear to take into consideration the current rate of inflation and the need to significantly enhance the teachers’ salaries.” The principal of an international school, who did not want to be named, stated that it wasn’t in the best interests to regulate the economy as a free market and deregulation was the way forward.
By Preeti Kannan (Our staff reporter)