New Committee To Investigate Private School Fee Increases

On Tuesday, the Federal National Council asked the Ministry of Education to investigate rising school fees.

During the session, Hussain Al Hammadi, Minister of Education, told the group that the ministry would form a committee to investigate private school fees, as "many private schools added unapproved charges".

Azza Bin Suleiman, the FNC member from Dubai who originally brought the request to the ministry said, fee increases need to be taken more seriously.

According to the National, she went on to say,"the ministry should be more vigilant with offenders, enforcing fines to prevent unauthorised rises."

She went on to say, “parents should be made aware of what schools are rated weak and what are rated strong, so they will know they are receiving their money’s worth.”

"Just like hotels have stars, quality of an educational institution should also be clearly identified," she said.

In Abu Dhabi ADEC regulates both the inspection process and the private school fee requests and increases, just as the KHDA does for Dubai. 

However, Ms bin Suleiman noted that in Sharjah and the Northern Emirates, the information is harder for parents to find.

She called on a probation system for weak schools and the possibility of a new federal body to regulate school evaluation and control fees.