Schools warned against unapproved fee hikes

The Ministry of Education has warned all private and international schools against raising fees following complaints by parents against some schools.
In a directive issued by the ministry on Thursday, it has cautioned that action will be taken against schools who raise their tuition fees without a written approval from the ministry.
For the academic year 2013-2014, as many as 1,537 private schools out of 4,499 across the Kingdom were allowed to increase fees on condition of adhering to some strict criteria, including the need to raise the Saudi percentage in these schools.
“In view of what is published in some media regarding fees increase at these private schools, the ministry would like to make clear that it has indeed approved an increase in school fees for some and declined the request for others,” the statement said.
A report last week revealed that a number of these schools have imposed high registration fees on those students who registered for the coming year that reached SR3,000 in some schools taking advantage of a system in the absence of supervision by the concerned authorities.
The statement added, “The ministry has, indeed, examined applications of these schools based on certain criteria such as cost, standard of education and its contents of indicators to measure the cost- efficiency, education standard, Saudization in these schools, where a royal decree mandates an increase in the number of Saudi teachers and their salaries.
The ministry has urged all schools to strictly adhere to its advisory on the tuition fee issue and the need to keep parents informed in writing.
The ministry will study the complaint requests that may be received from parents stressing that it will impose sanctions on those found violating the ministry’s advisory.
The approved tuition fees will be made public on the education ministry’s website and will also provide an opportunity for those schools that have applied for the fee increase starting Sunday, for a period of 15 days.