Parents of students called for alternative solutions to preserve the future of their children

Late fees prevent students from enrolling in the new academic year

“Education and Knowledge”: The school should publish a clear and transparent policy regarding the consequences of non-payment of school fees or late payment.

From the source

Late fees for students of private schools in Abu Dhabi obstructed the registration procedures for their children for the new academic year, as schools sent them notices stating that their children would not be able to enroll in their classes at the beginning of the new school year unless the late fees from the last academic year were settled.

In detail, students in private schools were surprised that school administrations took measures to suspend their children's registration, and prevent them from joining the new academic year due to the delay in paying some tuition fees installments for the previous year.

Parents of students: Khaled Ismail, Hussein Abdel Majid, Mahmoud Shawky, Manal Yassin, and Raghda Al-Baili said: “We received letters from the schools informing us that the overdue amounts must be paid as soon as possible, otherwise the student will not be allowed to attend school during the new academic year, and the message included: ( In order to avoid embarrassment, the school administration would like to remind you of the need to pay the overdue amounts as soon as possible, in order to avoid the student’s failure to register for the new academic year.”

They called for the search for alternative solutions to preserve the future of their children, such as postponing the payment of late installments for the academic years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, and looking into the cases of insolvent parents to reschedule the fees required of them and exempt them from the amounts of services that have not been used, especially The students did not fully attend during the last two academic years.

While the students’ families, Ahmed Emad, Maitham Muhammad, and Nour Al-Qadi, indicated that they went to buy school uniforms and reserve textbooks, so they were surprised to stop enrolling their children for the new school year due to unpaid school dues, in addition to the non-payment of school seat reservation fees to confirm the student’s continuity. They indicated that they had asked the school to give them a chance to pay this year, but their request was rejected.

While "Emirates Today" monitored cases pending before the courts, and judicial rulings cited by the Judicial Department in Abu Dhabi among the rulings published on its electronic portal, for private schools to file lawsuits against students' families due to the late payment of tuition fees.

The amounts claimed by schools ranged from 2,000 dirhams in arrears of tuition fees to 150 thousand dirhams. The schools’ requests in the cases included obtaining judgments for overdue fees and filed compensation claims and demanded legal interest at 12% from the date of the claim until full payment, with the students’ families being obligated to pay fees. expenses and attorney's fees.

On the other hand, officials in private schools made it clear that for a year or more, they communicated with the families of students who did not pay the tuition fees, for the past two years, and they were given more than one opportunity for installments, and a discount on the total late fees, but they did not commit to paying, as they were warned before At the end of the third semester of last year, the registration of their children for the new academic year will be suspended.

Officials in private schools, Muhammad Abdul Karim, Iman Naji, Marwa Saeed, and Kholoud Muhammad, indicated that it is not possible to waive the late fees and that they eventually have to resort to the judiciary to obtain their dues from the students’ families, pointing out that there are multiple obligations on the schools, including rents and maintenance. The salaries of employees and the costs of modernization and training programs, while tuition fees remain the only source of income, and without them, schools will not be able to continue and provide their educational services in an acceptable manner.

 “Education and Knowledge”: The school may withhold the result from the student and refrain from re-registering him until the fees are settled.

School officials: Over the course of a year, we contacted the families of students who did not pay the fees, but they did not comply with the payment.

Students in private schools were surprised by the measures taken by their children’s school administrations to suspend their children’s registration.

Fee fairness

The Department of Education and Knowledge confirmed that when evaluating the appropriateness of school fees, it takes into account four basic aspects, including providing the necessary information in full, including submitting a complete financial study using the financial form issued by the department for this purpose, and comparing school fees with the fees of schools of similar quality and similar curricula. Taking into consideration the assessment of the school’s general effectiveness in the latest evaluation report, and the cost of school facilities and services, in addition to ensuring that fees are not set that enable the school to achieve excessive profits so that the commercial interest prevails over the quality of education, noting the need for the school to obtain its approval on school fees, and schedules The time frame for paying it, and the procedures for paying it, before announcing it to parents, and before collecting it.

The Department clarified in the Private Schools Policies and Guidelines that the school may collect the registration fee for students or re-register them within four months before the beginning of the school year, provided that it is deducted later from the school fees approved by the department and this amount does not exceed 5% of the value of the approved tuition fees, and the school collects Registration or re-registration fees when registering the student at the school and not when applying for admission to the school, and the school is prohibited from charging any financial guarantee, financial deposit, application fees or enrollment fees for the first time from parents to register their children or to pay any remaining installments, even if they are refundable.

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