MoE warns schools not to deny children education or results over unpaid fees
Private school fees rise by up to 15%; Indian-school parents face higher costs as ministry tightens fee collection rules
The Times Kuwait Report
Kuwait’s Ministry of Education has warned private schools that students must not be denied education, prevented from sitting examinations or deprived of their academic results because of unpaid tuition fees, as families across the country adjust to newly approved increases in private-school fees.
The ministry’s latest regulations allow eligible private schools to raise tuition fees by between 10 and 15 percent, while imposing stricter controls on how the increases are applied and how schools collect payments. The rules also place explicit safeguards around students’ access to classes, examinations and academic results.
Under the latest decision covering Arabic-language and Pakistani private schools, institutions charging annual fees between KD250 and KD450 may increase tuition by up to 15 percent, while schools charging KD451 or more may raise fees by up to 10 percent. The increase can be applied only once and must remain within the percentages approved by the ministry.
A similar framework is already being implemented in Indian-curriculum schools. Under Ministerial Resolution No. 375 of 2025, schools charging between KD300 and KD500 may increase fees by up to 15 percent, while those charging KD501 and above may increase fees by up to 10 percent. The Public Administration for Private Education instructed Indian schools to implement the approved increases for the 2026/2027 academic year.
The ministry has also established a fixed payment mechanism under which tuition fees are to be collected in three equal instalments. Schools are not permitted to alter the number, value or scheduled payment dates of the instalments.
Schools must also submit their approved fee structures to the General Administration of Private Education for review and are required to make the approved fees clearly available to parents, either through school noticeboards or their websites. The regulations are particularly significant for families struggling to meet higher education costs.
Parents feel growing financial pressure
Indian schools began issuing circulars to parents after the ministry directed them to implement the previously approved fee increases for the current academic year. For many Indian schools, the move followed nearly a decade during which tuition fees had remained largely frozen.
Parents interviewed by the media said the increase comes at a time when expatriate households are already dealing with higher rents, food costs and other living expenses. Some parents with several children in private schools said the additional annual cost could amount to hundreds of dinars across their families. Others said they were being forced to reconsider spending on tutoring, leisure and other household expenses to accommodate higher school fees.
School administrators, meanwhile, have argued that the increases are necessary after years of rising operating costs, including rents, teacher salaries and facility maintenance, while tuition revenues remained restricted.
Some schools have said additional income will be directed toward teacher salaries, professional development, technology, laboratories and other improvements to the educational environment.
Education cannot be withheld over fee disputes
Despite allowing schools to increase tuition, the ministry has drawn a clear line between fee collection and a child’s right to continue receiving education. Private schools covered by the regulations are prohibited from preventing students from attending classes or receiving educational services because of outstanding fees. They cannot bar students from sitting mid-year or final examinations, expel them solely over unpaid tuition during the academic year, or withhold their academic results.
The ministry has also required schools to ensure that parents and students can access examination results even when tuition payments remain outstanding.
The directive concerning Indian schools similarly states that students should not be prevented from receiving educational services, sitting examinations or accessing related academic services because of fee-payment issues.
Schools urged to support families facing hardship
Some Indian schools have already introduced measures to help families struggling with payments, including extended payment arrangements, sibling discounts, scholarships and case-by-case assistance. School administrators have also acknowledged that some families have accumulated outstanding fees and said they are willing to work with parents facing genuine financial difficulties.
The new regulations therefore seek to balance two concerns: allowing private schools to adjust fees in response to rising operating costs while ensuring that financial disputes between schools and parents do not interrupt a child’s education.
For parents, however, the key issue now is whether higher fees will translate into improved educational services and whether schools will maintain transparency in the additional charges they impose.
The Ministry of Education’s regulations make clear that approved fee increases do not give schools the right to introduce additional charges beyond the authorised structure or to use a student’s education, examinations or academic results as leverage for collecting outstanding tuition.
