AMMAN — Parents contend that they are reluctant to
enroll their children in private schools because of their high tuition.
While urging
owners of private schools to lower their fees for children to get a better
quality of education, they admitted that transferring their children to public
schools was not their best option.
اضافة اعلان
Um Khalid, a
mother of four children at the primary level, told
Jordan News that she
moved two of her four children to public schools “because I could not afford to
pay the fees of private schools for all four“.
“School expenses
were not limited to the tuition fees,” she said, adding that “school uniforms
must be changed every two year, students need pocket money, and transportation
fees.”
“These are
financial burdens that strain the parents’ pockets,” she explained.
Head of the
Syndicate of Private School Owners Munther Al-Sourani told
Jordan News that “the rise in school premiums was never an obstacle to Jordanian families”.
That was a reference to the deteriorating finances of many Jordanians in the
wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when business activity came to a virtual
standstill. Subsequently, inflation, unemployment, and poverty rose.
Sourani pointed
out that the disparity in the value of school premiums was clear “so that each
family could determine the appropriate school it can afford for its children,
according to its monthly income.”
He added that “private
schools have substantial financial obligations, some of which may amount to the
option of closure because of the inability to sustain, or meet their
obligations.”
He asserted that
“there should be government cooperation with private school owners, to offer
them some incentives such as tax exemption, especially since private school
owners incur many financial obligations, and this forces them to increase fees
to be able to pay their obligations.”
This year, a
number of private schools introduced discounts to “encourage parents to enroll
their children in private schools,” he said.
He said several
private schools took into account the “difficult economic conditions
experienced by parents, especially those with more than one child”.
Mervat Mustafa,
director of a private school in Amman, told
Jordan News that “some
people think that we make a lot, but in recent years, we were forced to borrow
from banks to be able to pay our financial obligations.”
“Private schools
are like any institutions, with profits and losses,” she said. “To improve the
quality of the educational service, money must be spent.”
Abu Fares, a
father of three, told Jordan News, that he is satisfied that all his
children are in private schools. “Despite the higher fees, it’s not a financial
burden for me since my monthly income is high,” he said.
“I have no problem paying more for my
children’s education,” he declared. “I believe that what I pay today is an
investment in my children for a better future.”
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