Schools seek Ministry permission for fee hike

Schools are asking for another hike! It seems that Qatar, instead of providing cheap yet having a high standard of education, is falling to the loop of increasing tuition every year. Not only that, schools right now are already asking for advance payment of tuition almost 4-5 months before the school year even starts. For those who are already enrolled in schools, payment must be done at least a month before the current semester ends or they would loose a place for next years’ school year. It is only in Qatar where I’ve seen this. And to think that there is an abundance of enrollees every year and places for schools is almost close to rare, why would they require parents to pay tuition several months before the actual year starts? Don’t they have enough funds to pay for what ever they need to pay?

Although these are private schools, the Government should have a hand in regulating these schools. With the new hike request, do you think the actual amount goes back to the children’s eduation through better facilities, newer books, better equipments, etc? I’m not so sure. They are saying that the hike in needed due to "a rise in operational costs due to the inflation in the country". So does that mean that all the parents were given salary hikes by their employers because of the inflation? If that’s not the case, then the Governement should also impose on yearly pay hikes for parents who send their kids to school to balance everything out. Otherwise, education becomes a burden for families with already low income.

Just to give you a sample of how much one has to pay for education in Qatar (aside from entrace fees, resources fees, registration fees, etc):

Doha Montessori and British School
Preschool -QR 17400/ Year
Reception to Year 10 – QR 25500/year to QR 37500/year

Philippine School Doha
Pre- Elementary to  High School -QR4430++/year to QR6190++/year

American School Doha
(Capital Fees – 10,950 -14,600)
Pre Kindergarten – QR26,880/year
Kindergarten to Year 1 to 5 – 44,8323/year
Year 6-12 – QR 58,300/Year
Preschool -QR 17400/ Year
Reception to Year 10 – QR 25500/year to QR 37500/year

Doha Modern Indian School
Kindergarten 1 and 2- QR7300/year
Grade 1 to 4 – QR8965/year
Grade 5 to 12 – Qr 10,265 to 14,274/year

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