March is approaching, back to school and with inflation of 20.6% in January and 25.5% in December, a crucial doubt haunts the parents of children who go to private schools.
What will be
the value of the fee
?
“We have to differentiate two types of schools, those that receive the state contribution, which is
70% of the 14,000 private schools
in the country, and the remaining 30% that do not receive it.
For example, in the Province of Buenos Aires there are 16,300 schools and 4,400 have state contributions, but they have to wait for authorization from the Buenos Aires Government to increase," highlights Martín Zurita, executive secretary of the Association of Private Education Institutes of the Province of Buenos Aires. Aires (Aiepba).
Those 4,400 subsidized schools, in December, received authorization to increase
30% starting in March
.
For those that do not receive state aid, an
increase of 40% or 50%
is estimated both in the Province and in the City of Buenos Aires.
Zurita expresses that there was also a
25% salary increase in January for teachers
, granted by Axel Kicillof's government.
This variable adds to the uncertainty scenario of private schools with and without subsidy just days before classes start.
“Last year an amount of fees was reported, now there is a variable by which the fees of private schools can increase and that is when there is an increase in parity rates, an increase in salaries.
This 25% impacts the quota, the change in tariff,
we have to see how it will be adjusted,” comments Zurita in this regard.
Between 80% and 90% of the tuition fee of a private school
is labor cost
: “That is why every time there is parity and there is a salary increase it impacts the fee.
Subsidized schools depend on the authorization of the provincial governments and the head of the City Government, and
non-subsidized schools can increase without that authorization
,” clarifies Zurita.
For this reason, he explains that schools without state contributions have already announced an update, but those with state contributions must wait for the province of Buenos Aires to
authorize another increase
in addition to the 30% planned for March.
According to Zurita, the City of Buenos Aires “is in the same situation, because it had authorized a 30% increase in December and now it also increased salaries, therefore that will have to be reviewed.”
In CABA, the last increases for teachers were 10 and 15%, so it also ended up being around 25%, plus a non-remunerative bonus that was paid.
This scenario was already anticipated by many privately managed institutions that since October have been telling Clarín
about
the repercussions of the communities of parents regarding the high tariff values imposed for February 2024.
Clarín
already reflected the great conflict of private schools without subsidy due to the validity of decree 2417/93, which
required them to report the tariff values for the following year
before October 1 in the midst of a complicated inflationary context.
One of the legal representatives who told this newspaper about the conflict between institutes and parent groups was Constanza, from the
San Joaquín School
, a private, bilingual school in Villa Ballester.
The projection they made was the following: from $143,445 in October 2023 to $240,000 in the February 2024 installment. In the end, they consider that
they fell short of the inflation
that they had to calculate for this date.
“
What we said in October was going to happen
.
It seemed like an outlandish amount in September, when we reported it.
But the reality is that
Kicillof gave a 25% increase for teachers in January.
The vast majority of schools, if not all, do not have fees in January.
In other words, it is the month that we do not receive income,” he emphasizes now while speaking with this medium.
The legal representative points out that this school collects fees from February, but that in general the institutes that receive contributions begin to collect from March: “So, we reported the February fee on September 30 with a projection of an inflation of which had been, in general, 12% monthly.
It's obvious, we are below
.
But hey, we are one of the schools that decided not to play this February to accompany the families.
We have to see how all this ends up developing, what continues to happen with the salary increase.”
Constanza clarifies that the decision they made not to transfer increases to the quota is a “for now”, since it is certain that this will end up happening in March.
Above all, this 25% salary increase is one of the first issues to be resolved.
“So, I ate up a month, that is, the school ended up absorbing that.
And you have to see how it is done.
We have to see if we make it retroactive to February.
One wants to accompany the family, what happens is that
we have been accompanying them since the pandemic
,” she adds.
Clarín
consulted with parents from other non-subsidized private schools in the northern zone of the GBA, including Olivos and Pilar, and they all emphasize that they still received increases in the fees that they received by email.
To the salary increases of teachers and non-teaching staff, work in building works, rents, the great problem represented by inflation and economic instability, another variable is added:
decree 814 of 2001
, which refers to the exemption from payment of employer contributions for private educational establishments.
After the economic crisis of that year, private schools achieved a reduction in employer contributions.
The decree is annual and was extended throughout all governments.
So far, the extension has not been signed by President Javier Milei.
When asked about Aiepba, Zurita affirms that the national government “is going to extend it, but it is an issue where
there is already a commitment from the government to continue supporting it
.”
As highlighted by this association, at the moment the schools are paying salaries and obligations for January, reviewing projected values and cost structure.
Those under private management with a subsidy are waiting for the quota limit regulated by the State to be re-evaluated for this beginning of the school year.
The rest of the schools without state contributions, in many cases, maintain “for now” the established tariff values, but know that they face the
need to redefine fees
with new increases as March approaches.