A day after they were granted the freedom to impose far greater fee increases, Dubai schools were warned yesterday not to unnecessarily take advantage of the higher limits.
Education officials also urged schools to take the new inspection regime seriously saying schools that repeatedly failed to raise standards over time would be shut down.
The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) announced on Wednesday that schools could raise their fees by between seven and 15 per cent next year, depending on their performance in inspections.
Since the KHDA started regulating fees two years ago, it has capped increases at 15 per cent over two years, or eight per cent a year.
Under the new structure, the best schools will be allowed to increase fees by 15 per cent next year, good schools by 12 per cent, acceptable schools by nine per cent and unsatisfactory schools by seven per cent.
If an increase is absolutely necessary, it will have to be linked to current academic standing as well as the school’s inspection report and rating,” he said. He added that if standards dropped, the penalties would be “very severe
But Dr Abdulla al Karam, the chairman of the board of directors and director general at the KHDA, warned schools against raising fees by the maximum permitted unless the increases were directly linked to improvement plans
