By Noimot Olayiwola/Staff Reporter
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Only 10 expatriate schools have so far received the nod from the Supreme Education Council (SEC) to revise their fees for the academic year 2013-2014, sources confirmed yesterday.
Doha College, Cambridge School Doha (CSD), Pakistan Education Centre and DPS-Modern Indian School are among them.
It is learnt that almost all expatriate schools in Qatar had sent a request to the SEC seeking a hike in the tuition fees.
Since the news of the school fee hike for this year broke, many parents have expressed worry, speaking out against the move.
All the schools, including government and private, are expected to reopen on September 8, in line with the SEC’s plan for a unified calendar.
“We have already received an approval from the SEC to increase school fees for the new academic year by 12%,” Doha College’s business manager Luke Godley told Gulf Times yesterday.
He explained that the school, which presently has 1,200 students aged three-18 years, had not increased fees since 2011.
There are up to 500 students on the waiting list of the school which has already closed admission, Godley said.
The yearly school fees structure for the academic year 2013-2014 published on the school’s website shows QR40,898 being charged for reception to year six; year seven-11 (QR66,143); and year 12-13 (QR72,191).
At the Cambridge School Doha, only Qatari students have to pay more this session as government already approved a 15% increase on Qatari students’ tuition.
“The CSD is not having a general increase on tuition for all the students this year, but only the Qatari students will have to pay a new fee starting from this September,” a source at the school said.
The yearly school fees at the CSD for the academic year 2012-2013 starts from QR12,868 for kindergarten (KG) 1 students to QR31,897 for Grade 13.
Some other schools are still hoping to receive a positive response from the SEC before the reopening date.
“We cannot increase our tuition fees unless the SEC approves it. So, we are hoping that the council will reply to our request for hike sent to them earlier on,” MES Indian School administration officer Rajeev Rajan told Gulf Times yesterday.
MES charges a monthly tuition fee in the range of QR230-QR515 for (KG-Class 12.
A source at the Sri Lankan School Doha (SLSD), which is also hoping to get approval for the tuition fee increase, has said that the school is removing a 10% discount on fees granted to students during last academic year.
“We have submitted an application to the SEC to increase school fees but still waiting for approval,” SLSD administration manager Nanda Kumara said.
According to him, the school is planning to expand its facilities in order to accommodate more students, especially those returning students, starting from this new session.
“We had 700 plus students last year and the SEC has asked us to reduce this number to around 600 or find a way of getting extra classrooms,” he said.
Kumara disclosed that plans to expand the existing school structure would include four additional classrooms, which are expected to be ready by this month end.
“With the expansion work, we hope to be able to accommodate some of the students on the waiting list as well,” he said.
Work on Doha College’s new campus to start next year
Construction work of the new Doha College campus in Abu Hamour is expected to start within the first quarter of 2014, business manager Luke Godley said yesterday. In June this year, Doha College had signed an agreement with HE Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad bin Abdullah al-Thani, securing a long-term lease on the land that will allow the institution to build the new campus, facilitating an increase in number of students to around 2,000. The school presently has a total of 1,200 students aged 3 to 18 years on two campuses in West Bay and Al Waab areas.
“We are still at the design phase of the project,” Godley said, adding that fund-raising had already started for the project among the college’s communities including parents and companies. “The new building, expected to open in September 2016, will be state-of-the-art in terms of technology and sports facilities: we plan to have an Olympic-size swimming pool, three football pitches and a science laboratory,” he said.