AMMAN — “It is time to transfer my children from this school
to another school, but their current school refuses to hand over their academic
record,” Osama Najeeb told
Jordan News.
اضافة اعلان
He has two children attending a private school, but says the school is
“withholding their records” until he has paid outstanding tuition fees.
Najeeb says he is not alone, and that other parents are also
being prevented from transferring their students.
An Amman private school principal, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said that “many private schools tend to hold students' records in
case parents are late in paying,” noting that her school relies on a signed
promise of payment instead.
“It doesn’t make sense to deprive a student of
their right to transfer schools,” she underlined.
The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated parents’ inability
to pay; a point Najeeb stressed.
He explained that before the pandemic, he was
able to cover his children’s tuition, but that has now “become more difficult”.
Particularly “during this period”, he does not have the ability to pay the
installments to his children’s private school.
The principal echoed his worries.
“I have a family, and I
know the difficult conditions that Jordanian families are going through after
the COVID-19 pandemic, which has harmed everyone without exception.”
In an official statement, Director of the Private Education
Department at the Ministry of Education Fayez Al-Maarif, on Monday said that private
schools, in the event of a parent’s nonpayment, have legal recourse.
Firstly, the
school can take the parent to court for nonpayment.
Secondly, the school can
refuse to reregister the student for the following academic year, provided they
inform the student’s legal guardian and the Education Ministry four months in
advance.
Article 12b of the Regulations for Establishing and
Licensing Private and International Educational Institutions No.
130 of 2015
explicitly says “The educational institution shall not withhold the academic
record of any student or deprive him or her from education during the school
year. ...”
Maarif stressed that should a private school do this,
guardians can file a lawsuit, in which the school would have to pay “a fine of
JD10,000–100,000,” should they be found guilty.
The director underlined that if a private educational
institution commits such a violation, guardians can turn to the ministry to
avoid disrupting their children’s education by bringing the letter of
acceptance from the school they want to transfer to and sending it to the Private
Education Department.
They will then be provided with the documents necessary
for their children’s transfer.
When
Jordan News asked Najeeb whether he had tried to file a complaint, he said he had tried to
coordinate with other parents to object to the school administration, but that
they had not thought of “submitting an official complaint to a government
agency,” despite knowing that withholding students’ files and records is
prohibited.
In a telephone interview with
Jordan News, Munther Al-Sourani, head of the Private School Owners Association, said that when they turn to the Education Ministry they “see
that it does not have real solutions. ... Its solutions always stand with the
student at the expense of private schools.”
Sourani went on: “It is time for the Ministry of Education
to stop marginalizing private schools and portraying them as a weak sector.”
He explained that tuition goes towards paying the school’s
bills, taxes, and salaries.
Parents know that private schools have paid
education, and that the school has the right to “demand its dues and find a
means of pressure to protect its rights. If the guardian cannot pay, they
should send their children to a public school.”
Furthermore, regarding the ministry’s statement on schools’
legal recourse, Sourani said that “it is unreasonable for all private schools
to go to the courts” or seize a guardian’s assets.
“As for the fines of up to JD100,000, this is a large sum,”
the syndicate head said. “Why is it permissible for them to do what we are not
allowed? This is illogical.”
Najeeb, when asked about Sourani’s comments, said that he
has no desire for the school to give up its rights, but that “I was expecting
more consideration for the financial situation that has impacted all of us
during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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