As 27 private schools approved for fee increases, parents consider public education

AMMAN — Despite many private schools submitting applications for fee increases, the Ministry of Education has only granted 27 schools approval at an increase of 3 per cent. 

Minister of Education Azmi Mahafzah in a press statement revealed out of the 210 schools that applied to increase fees, 183 schools were rejected. 

The school may raise school fees by no more than the inflation rate, the minister said, adding that the inflation rate, according to official statistics, was 4.25 per cent.

Mahafzah stressed that there are controls in place for the process of raising fees, and that no increase will be higher than 5 per cent, regardless of the inflation rate.

Manal Mohammad, a teacher in a private school and a mother of three children, told The Jordan Times that she chose to put her children in public school. Mohammad attributed her decision to the fact that she receives no discounted tuition for her own children, adding that the prices of a private education are “exaggerated” compared with the average monthly salary in Jordan.

Ali Hussain, an employee in the apparel sector, has two children in the fourth and fifth grades. Hussain told The Jordan Times that tuition fees for his children’s school are high, and come with the additional costs of extra supplies that the school requests for various activities. 

The price increase does not stop from one year to another, he added.

“I cannot move my children to another school because this is the only school close to home and my work,” Hussain said.