RIYADH: The increase in monthly tuition fees announced for implementation from the new academic year (2011-2012) by the international Indian schools in Saudi Arabia has upset parents. The parents are strongly opposed to the announcement of the new fee structure, pointing out that the majority of Indian expatriates working in the Kingdom earn a basic monthly salary of SR2,000 to SR3,000. They said that monthly expenditures in Saudi Arabia have already gone up owing to several factors, such as the increase in food prices and housing rent, adding that the management of Indian community schools should have taken this into consideration before taking a decision on the new tuition fee structure. M.J. Siddiqui, Principal and Head of Institution (HOI), International Indian School, Riyadh (IISR), has informed parents through a circular that the tuition fees have been revised and will be effective from April 1. The IISR circular states that the fee structure for students enrolled at KG to V standard will be SR675 per quarter, as against SR600 earlier. The students studying at VI to Xth standard will ha ve to pay a term fee of SR750 as against SR630. While students in the high school classes XI and XII will pay a term fee of SR900. The school has offered a fee concession for the third child. The increased fee structure will hit hard those parents who have two or more children studying at the school. “The new IISR fee structure will be difficult for us on my husband's monthly income. We were upset after receiving the circular notifying us of an increase in tuition fees. Education is as important to a child's future as a balanced diet is for healthy growth,” said a housewife, requesting to keep her identity a secret. A mother of three children, she said she has been living in the Kingdom for the past 10 years and her husband's company has never given him an increment in his monthly salary. “We have a hand-to-mouth existence in Saudi Arabia, which we think is better than being unemployed in our home country,” she said. The parents of students of the International Indian School, Jeddah (IISJ) are up in arms about the increased tuition fees that range between SR30 and SR70 per child. The India Fraternity Forum (IFF), a social organization that represents a cross section of the Indian community in Saudi Arabia, has submitted a memorandum to Syed Masood Ahmed, IISJ Principal, to immediately withdraw the proposed fee hike and has demanded that the school management committee convene a meeting with parents. The memorandum signed by Mohammed Basheer, IFF President, and Mohammed Ashraf, General Secretary, said that the Forum has studied the IISJ circular and that the proposed fee hike would affect the already cash-strapped Indian community, the majority of whom fall in the low-income category. According to the IISJ circular distributed to parents the tuition fee for KG students will be increased by SR30 from SR170 to SR200. Students enrolled in classes I to V have to pay an additional SR55 from SR170 to SR225. Similarly, the proposed tuition fee for students from VI to X will be SR250 which has been raised from SR180. Students in XI and XII will have an increase of SR70 from SR230 to SR300. However, a concession of 30 percent is offered to parents who have more than three children enrolled at the school. Most parents cannot afford the proposed tuition fees, the IFF said, adding that some students may not be able to enroll in school as the majority of parents are in the low-income bracket. “The sharp increase in the cost of living is a cause of concern and any increase in tuition fees will further affect cash-strapped parents,” the IFF said. A parent whose child attends the International Indian School, Dammam (IISD) said the increase in tuition fees would defeat the very purpose of community schools which are meant to be run on a “no-loss, no-profit” policy basis. The parents urged Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad to intervene immediately and stop the schools from taking such drastic anti-parent and anti-student measures. “It is high time that Ambassador Ahmad, who is a patron of the Indian community schools in the Kingdom, should intervene to safeguard the interests of parents and their children,” said one parent.
