Parents angry over new school registration fees

An international school's plans to increase fees for the next academic year starting in September have angered several parents here. They are also up in arms over a request from Al-Majd International School for all parents to pay a pre-registration fee by April 30 for next year. Many said they cannot afford to do so at this stage. Mohammed Omar Al-Jaloud, the school manager, said the pre-registration fee is meant to ensure that parents are committed to keeping their children at the school. The money would be deducted from next year’s fees, he said. The school, he said, often reserves places for students but then their parents change their minds. The school recently underwent a costly accreditation process, he claimed. Al-Jaloud said the fee increase has not been approved and an application is pending with the Ministry of Education. He said the rise is reasonable compared to other schools. A parent, who did not want to be named, said she was unhappy with the pre-registration fee of SR500 for each student. “We need help to stop the school from doing this. Al-Majd International School is already taking SR850 a month as tuition for students from kindergarten to grade seven. This is apart from other expenses.” “For the higher classes, the costs are more. There is no concession for siblings either and every year the fees increase by 5 to 10 percent. Every year they have a new and expensive plan to rob the parents,” she said. Another mother with several children at the school said that when she told the administration she could not afford to pay the amount, officials threatened that they would remove her children from the list of students for next year. One parent said her child was warned several times while in class that the pre-registration fee must be paid by April 30. “I want to highlight the fact that international schools are not following the rules of the Education Ministry,” she said. “Now they’re asking for next year’s fees in advance. This is creating extreme pressure and a further financial burden on us.” She called on the ministry to take action against the school, and ensure that it cannot prevent children who do not pay from writing the final examinations. -arabnews