RIYADH – Parents of the students of private and international schools can now approach the Ministry of Education if school authorities make any hike in tuition fee other than the one approved by the ministry.

The ministry has approved a model application form for parents to lodge their complaints in this regard. The form is available at the ministry’s website (www.moe.gov.sa), as well as at the sites of education departments, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.

The tuition fee approved for private and international schools across the Kingdom will be published at the sites of the respective education departments so as to help parents to verify whether the school authorities are adhering to the fee structure.

In a statement carried on its website, the ministry said that the parents can take printout of the form from the site and fill it up before mailing or faxing it to the respective department of education. In the form, the ministry seeks details from parents about the amount of hike made and the notification from the school authorities in this regard.

The branch committee concerned with tuition fee at the education department will examine each complaint and take a decision on it. Subsequently, the department will inform parents about the status of the complaint and the measures taken on it.

The ministry urged the schools to strictly abide by its directives with regard to the approved fee structure and not to charge any amount higher than the prescribed one.

The ministry also warned that punitive measures will be taken against those schools which violate the directives in this regard.

In September 2013, a total of 932 private schools across the Kingdom increased fee by up to 20 percent after the ministry approved a request for the hike.

Mohammed Eid Al-Otaibi, director of private and international schools at the ministry, said then that about half of the Kingdom’s 3,940 private schools asked to increase their tuition fees but the ministry approved only 21 percent of the requests.

A few days ago, the ministry warned private and international schools that action will be taken against schools which raise their tuition fees without a written approval from the ministry. The warning came following complaints from parents against fee hike by some schools.