Private schools’ representatives say ceiling hike insufficient

ANTALYA

The 65 percent ceiling increase in private schools’ tuition fees would put the sector in trouble, sector representatives say, noting that 3,000 schools will be closed 30,000 teachers will be unemployed at the end of the year if there is no incentive.

“It would be appropriate to give a certain amount of encouragement and support to each parent, considering the economic conditions of them,” Zafer Öztürk, the head of the Turkish Private Schools Association (TÖZOK), said at the 21st annual education symposium of the association in the southern province of Antalya.

Noting that since the support and regulations to be made in official payments such as taxes and social insurance premiums, which are legal payments of schools, will reduce the costs, he said they wish that the resources to be obtained from this will be transferred to the teachers.

The Education Ministry announced early January it decided to set the increase as 65 percent “considering the low inflation expectation for 2023.”

Though private schools have not yet announced their new fees, some parents complain that the prices offered by private schools with early enrolment in December exceed the ceiling increase rate.

“Private school representatives say that paid teachers two to five times the minimum wage seven years ago, which is now only 1,000 to 3,000 Turkish Liras above it,” Öztürk said. “For this reason, teachers quit their jobs and five of them open a private course together, which are not subject to a fee limit.”

Other private school representatives at the symposium pointed out that around 3,000 schools may close and 30,000 teachers may become unemployed by the end of this year.

Some parents, on the other hand, point out that private schools are trying to “apply an invisible hike by making exorbitant increases” in additional expenses such as food, clothes and books, demanding schools to be audited.

When asked whether it is in compliance with the regulation to claim these fees under the name of “general expenses” in addition to the tuition fees, Öztürk said, “We can’t say it’s completely illegal, but I think it is not ethical. However, the institutions are helpless.”