Several private school owners have threatened to file cases against the Ministry of Education if tuition fees are cut in the new academic year once online education is introduced at all academic levels, reports Al-Anba daily quoting highly reliable sources from the educational sector.
The new decisions of the ministry regarding the new school year and the mechanism for conducting education and work might lead to legal disputes with owners of private schools because of the disagreement over tuition fees. The ministry verbally informed the private school owners that tuition fees will be reduced if the online learning system is implemented. Owners of private schools rejected the decisions, and highlighted that these directives were sources of concern and inconvenience. The ministry presented this solution with the hope that it would appease the school owners, especially since the reduction of fees will be offset by exempting them from annual rent payments (estimated at tens of thousands of Kuwaiti dinars) to the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Education vowed to push for approval of the exemption.
A meeting will be held within this week to discuss ways to deal with private schools in case they refuse to reduce fees, resumption of classes in October and decisions in this regard. The hope is that the tuition fee issue will not reach the courts as the students will pay the price for such disagreements. Asked about the tuition fees that parents paid in the second semester, the daily said, quoting sources, that both the Ministry of Education and the parents demanded a refund of these fees or for them to be carried over to the next academic year; otherwise, the parents will resort to the courts to fight for their financial rights.
On the resumption of classes, all private schools will strictly comply with the directive of the Private Education Department to implement the plan of Education Ministry to start online classes on Oct 4, reports Al Anba daily. This date is final unless there are changes in the health conditions in the country, stressing the department and the schools under its supervision are keen on following the instructions of health authorities.
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