Damascus-SANA
Private educational institutions for pre-university education in Syria, along with government educational institutions, are responsible for education, but determining the annual fees for these schools remains the greatest concern of some parents who wish to place their children there.
Private educational institutions are subject to educational and administrative supervision by the Ministry of Education, according to the director of private education in the ministry, Thania Nouiser, who indicated that supervision is on the validity of the buildings to maintain the health of students and workers and to ensure the fulfillment of the conditions of the child’s share of the kindergarten space and to provide the kindergarten with multiple models of safe and appropriate fixed games For the ages of children in terms of size and type of activities and the student and student share of the school space, provided that it is not less than 1.4 square meters for basic education and 1.5 square meters for secondary education, and the number of students in one classroom does not exceed 30 students, taking into account the necessary facilities to receive people with disabilities with the availability of all necessities necessary.
Regarding the duly approved premiums and fees and the commitment of the owners of institutions to them, Nouisser explained in a statement to SANA that private educational institutions are classified and their premiums are determined by ministerial instructions based on the quality of construction and equipment and the level of the administrative and educational apparatus in them, in addition to the level of its graduates and the percentage of outstanding students. The fees are paid once every two years, noting that the Ministry is in the process of reviewing the premiums and setting new criteria to determine them in private educational institutions according to the degree of their classification.
She added that the ministry allowed schools that did not raise their premiums during the last academic year 2021-2020, and whose premium is still less than 500,000 Syrian pounds, to increase it according to 3 segments, where the first bracket relates to schools whose annual premium ranges between 50 and 150,000 pounds, so the ministry allowed them to increase the premium by 50 percent. The second tranche, with a maximum increase of 35 percent for schools whose annual premium ranges between 151 and 250 thousand Syrian pounds, while it allowed a maximum increase of 25 percent for the third tranche related to schools with installments between 251 and 500 thousand Syrian pounds.
Nouisser indicated that the ministry requested not to allow the premiums to be increased at all for the rest of the educational institutions whose premiums are above 500,000 pounds, without calculating the estimates of services, other advantages and transportation fees, and that the institutions inform the competent directorate and parents of them before registration and that they be mandatory with regard to the educational and educational process and the announcement of premiums and service fees The additional features are prominently displayed on the institution’s bulletin board, and parents are given a receipt indicating the institution’s name with the amounts paid by them, in detail, at the risk of taking legal measures against the violator and holding those responsible for supervising them accountable if they are not informed of it.
Nouisser indicated that the Ministry supervises the progress of studies in private educational institutions, their curricula, and private legal educational institutions, and the extent of their commitment to implementing the curricula, examination systems, and applicable internal regulations, and dealing with the treatment of public schools in this regard. Violation starting from the warning penalty and ending with the closure.
On strategies for developing private education, granting licenses, objecting to not granting them, closures, and violations recorded against institutions, the Director of Private Education indicated that a main committee is formed to study it, and its decisions will be effective after the minister’s approval. In the education directorates, a sub-committee for private education affairs is formed by a decision of the minister, and its tasks are determined by a decision formed.
Regarding workers in private educational institutions, the Director of Private Education in the Ministry pointed out that each private educational institution has a board of directors, an administrative body and an educational body whose number of members is determined according to the existing classes and divisions according to the teaching quorum, and the minimum wage for workers is determined by a joint decision between the ministries of Social Affairs, Labor, Finance and Education.
Amer Deeb and Rehab Ali
