Sharjah Private Education: Adjust the rating of each school with the percentage increase in fees

The Sharjah Private Education Authority approved the percentage of school fees increase for the next academic year 2023-2024 in varying proportions according to the results of the Itqan program to assess the quality of school performance, announcing that the decision does not include schools that have a rating below "acceptable" as they are not eligible to increase their fees.

This accreditation comes to control the frameworks of increasing fees and link them to the quality of education and service provided by private schools in the emirate. The recommendations were also based on educational outcomes based on school inspection reports, indicators and standards of student quality of life, the percentage of satisfaction of stakeholders, school performance and academic achievement, the percentage of academic commitment of the educational institution and the efficiency of school buildings. The study also included factors affecting school fees, including inflation rates, increased utility prices, the operational cost of the educational institution, and the rate of economic growth in the emirate.
Private schools in Sharjah are regulated based on the school fee control framework that links the evaluation of each private school with the percentage set for adjusting fees for the next year, where private schools that have a rating of "excellent" have the right to raise their fees to a maximum of 5%, while schools with a rating of "very good" can raise their fees by 3.75%, while those with a rating of "good" can raise their fees by 2.5%, and those with a rating of "acceptable" have the right to raise fees. by 1.25%, while schools that were rated poor and very weak are not entitled to raise their fees.
The Authority explained that schools that meet the conditions have the right to submit a request to raise their fees every two academic years, provided that the application is through a dedicated platform in the Authority, where the application is studied after receiving it based on the results of the performance evaluation and in proportion to the rate of economic inflation and other documents and justifications provided by schools to support their application, and accordingly the request is approved or rejected.
These percentages were adopted within several tracks, including the evaluation mechanisms that followed the field visits carried out by the Authority to private schools to determine their levels, and to identify the areas of need for improvement and strengths to build on and empower them and improve the quality of their outputs on the one hand, and to determine the issue of raising or preventing fees according to the results of the evaluation, in addition to the Authority's endeavor to achieve a balance in school fees in a way that guarantees their right and does not constitute a burden on parents.
The Authority stressed that the Emirate of Sharjah is proceeding at an escalating development and development pace in the tools of the educational field, including teaching methods, mechanisms for providing curricula, and development plans conducted by private schools, which requires an increase in payments to schools, and therefore the decision to adopt fees came to confront any unjustified increase, and to ensure the school's right to increase fees according to the specified percentage and the controls followed.
In turn, the Director of the Sharjah Private Education Authority, Ali Al Hosani, explained that any decision adopted by the Authority comes after a comprehensive study surrounding all matters related to it, as the adoption of the percentage came within the framework of the coordination mechanism followed in the Authority, after taking into account the need for private schools to constantly develop their tools to provide an educational environment that deserves to acquire the advantage of raising fees at the mentioned rate, stressing that the fee system is one of the priorities of the Authority, which seeks to devote the right to education for all and within Specific frameworks that put the interest of the student, school and parents at the forefront of their concerns.
Al Hosani pointed out that the decision works to enhance the principle of competitiveness among private schools by motivating those who have an "acceptable" score or less to improve their performance in accordance with the standards of classification of the quality of education in the authority, explaining that schools wishing to raise their fees and meet the conditions must enter the TAMAM platform on the authority's website and submit the application through the coordinator of the electronic licensing system, noting that no school is entitled to raise its fees automatically, without meeting all the conditions, and taking approval from the authority.
The adoption of the school fees rate comes with the aim of determining the mechanisms of school work for the annual payments due to parents, and to prevent randomness in fees, which has become a concern for families who have expressed their concerns on many occasions, as the Authority's approval determines the percentage of increase for the next academic year clearly and clearly.
The Authority is keen to regulate school fees, and prohibitsDismissal of any student, depriving him of taking exams, or suspending him from exercising his right to education, due to late payment of due school fees, as a circular is issued annually in this regard, to ensure that students exercise their educational rights.
It is noteworthy that the Authority announced the adoption of fee hike rates after it implemented the two phases of its qualitative program "Itqan", the first phase of which began on October 16 and continued until November 2022, and the second phase was launched in February until March, with the aim of identifying citizens that need improvement in order to raise the efficiency of the educational system in all private schools in Sharjah and achieve distinguished academic outputs.
The Sharjah Private Education Authority seeks to enhance the confidence of the educational community in the services provided, qualify and train educational cadres to meet the requirements of the future, increase investments in the field of education, as well as annual partnerships aimed at developing skills and closing the gaps between basic and university education and the labor market.