The Ministry of Education, announcing the ceiling on tuition fee for non-government schools in Tehran, said schools that violate the directive will face strict legal action.
The fee structure is determined by a council (appointed by the ministry) in each municipal district based on the documents presented by the education institutions and a set of other parameters including facilities, administrative operations, patronage, number of staff and the quality of education, among others, the Persian language newspaper ‘Iran’ reported.
The annual fee approved for private schools at the primary level that offer 6 hours of extracurricular lessons every week range from around 20 million to 56 million rials ($579 to $1,623). The minimum and maximum permitted fees are 30-68 million rials ($869 and $1097) for middle schools and 37-84 million rials ($1,072 to $2,434) for high schools, respectively. At pre-university levels, students are given 16 hours of extra lessons in private schools at a fee ranging from 47-105 million rials ($1,362 and $3,043) as determined by the council.
Mojtaba Zeinivand, director general of Non-State Schools in Tehran affiliated to the ministry said, “Since the beginning of the establishment of private schools and until two years ago, tuition fees were increased at a specific rate each year, regardless of other factors. But according to the new model, which was officially enforced from the current academic year (began Sept. 22, 2015), tuition fees “are determined based on the schools’ total expenditure and a series of other indices.”
Moreover, earlier, parents were asked to pay additional amounts on a variety of pretexts. The new model has clubbed the fee fixed by the council and the extra costs, and schools are not allowed to demand extra amounts.
“A common printed form for registration has also been prepared which all schools have to adhere,” added Zeinivand.
Marzieh Gord, head of the Organization for Non-State Schools at the ministry stressed that violators will be punished according to the law and no leniency will be shown. In May 2015, she had said schools can increase tuition fees from 2.5% to a maximum 17% in the new academic year. Additionally, schools should announce the fee structure to the public “so that people can determine if a school is complying with the regulations.”
