High and illegal fees have been set by private schools for the upcoming academic year 2022/2023 without consulting parents' committees, and in complete absence of the Ministry of Education and the Private Education Department. Large amounts of money in dollars, outside the budget, have been imposed as a condition for registration, putting the right to education at risk amid the fragility of public education, which is incapable of accommodating students migrating from private schools, and warning of rising dropout rates. The academic year 2021-2022 was difficult for parents, teachers, and schools alike, the latter showing some hesitation when imposing fee increases. Today, schools openly disclose astronomical figures for next year's fees, with most openly imposing "fresh" dollar fees starting from 200 to 4,000 dollars, in addition to amounts in Lebanese pounds ranging from 7 million to 32 million. Furthermore, they require large sums in dollars as an advance to reserve a seat.
One particular school, for instance, requested a fee of 1,200 dollars for the first child, decreasing to 1,000 dollars for the second, and 800 dollars for the third, alongside fees in pounds which reach approximately 28 million lira per student, subject to increase if the dollar "goes crazy." The school administration pressures parents to "pay 70% of the dollar amount before July to secure a seat for their students," thus counting who will stay and who will leave, as there is fear that the number of teachers could exceed the number of students, forcing them to let go of some, according to the head of the parent committee at the school, Lamia Al-Rassi. Although she describes the fees as "frightening," and regrets some parents' inability to cope, she expresses "the greatest fear for the school’s ability to remain at the same level and retain its teachers." The parents' committee negotiated with the administration because "we want to eat grapes, but we don’t want to kill the gardener." They did not resort to filing a complaint with the ministry or pursuing legal action because this path taken by other schools, according to Al-Rassi, "did not yield results but created tension between the school and parents, to the detriment of the students."
According to one parent, the school fee at another school is initially 4,000 dollars. This figure is not final as it is influenced by student numbers – who will stay and who will leave. Due to low enrollment rates and a high number of withdrawals, the school closed its branch in Bashamoun and will retain its branches in Beirut and Joura al-Ballout in Metn, according to a source from the school. "Al-Akhbar" attempted to contact the school administration to find out the real reason behind its branch closure and to confirm the fee amounts, but was unsuccessful.
**Student Sorting**
Setting aside the wealthy parents who do not care about any increase, it is undeniable that the largest group of parents, composed of public and private sector employees with medium or low salaries, will seek schools that require lower fees. This means that the crisis, after redistributing students to nearby schools to save on bus costs, will next year sort students according to their ability to pay, causing schools to face difficulties in determining fees. It is known that the fee is the result of dividing expenses by the number of students; "if the number drops from 2,000 to 1,500, wouldn’t the fee be affected?" asks the Secretary-General of Catholic Schools, Youssef Nasr. This indicates that even dollar fees are bound to rise.
**The Dollar Confuses Schools**
Alongside the number of students, there is another, more complex criterion that complicates the establishment of school budgets: the exchange rate of the dollar. We ask Nasr about the fees for the upcoming academic year, and he responds: "If you tell me about the dollar exchange rate and the price of a fuel canister and diesel oil in the coming months, I can tell you about the school fees." Parents constantly inquire, and "this is their right, but we are in a dark tunnel, and the visions are unclear." The same applies to Al-Mustafa schools, which has not yet determined the actual value of the fees. “Though we tell parents that it approaches 9 million lira for kindergarten classes and reaches 11 million for secondary classes, representing an increase of about 70% from this year, we emphasize that these figures are not final and likely to increase," says General Director Mohammad Samaha.
**Weak Circular**
Parents' committees and parents in private schools awaited a serious stance from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to curb the excesses of schools, considering that it alone is able to set limits on fee increases, scrutinize budgets, and penalize violators of Law 515/96, especially regarding "dollarization." However, Minister of Education Abbas Halabi disappointed expectations when he issued a weak circular presenting legal materials regulating budget organization while leaving the door open for the dollarization of fees, stating: "Fees are determined in terms of their value or the currency in which payment should be made in a way that enables parents to continue." "Al-Akhbar" tried to contact the ministry for clarification on the issue but received no response.
The current educational chaos warns of a looming educational disaster. The pressure on parents through imposing "impossible" school fees for some, without reserving seats for the new poor in public schools, combined with other mounting economic pressures and a loss of trust in the importance of education for securing a decent livelihood, will inevitably force them to abandon their children's education sooner or later. This abandonment is not akin to giving up a subscription or traveling or visiting restaurants… It is, in short, the impending ignorance.
