Independent school

The 65 percent ceiling increase in private schools' tuition fees would put the sector in trouble, sector representatives say, noting that 3,000 schools will be closed 30,000 teachers will be unemployed at the end of the year if there is no incentive.

Türkiye's competition watchdog has decided to launch an investigation against five private French high schools in Istanbul and eight other schools in Ankara, following the allegations that some schools had increased their fees more than the determined rate.

As administrations of private schools have started announcing their annual education fees, Istanbul's Robert College has topped the "most expensive school" list with an annual fee of some 294,000 Turkish Liras ($17,750), the daily Milliyet has reported.

"Families have to pay nearly a fortune to send their children to private schools," the daily wrote on June 6.

Parents and students in Istanbul are having a hard time as some 10,000 school buses are now off the roads because the drivers of those vehicles, fearing that schools may be closed again because of COVID-19, have not returned to their jobs.

Despite Greece's financial constraints, registrations at private schools in 2018-2019 are up by 10 percent compared to last year, the chairman of the Association of Private Schools, Haralambos Kyrailidis, has said.

The rise in demand for private schools has reversed a six-year decline in registrations, from 82,000 students in 2009 to 67,000 in 2015.

A circular issued on Thursday by Education Minister Nikos Filis which, he says, aims to target undeclared labor and safeguard teacher jobs at private schools, has been met with vehement opposition, as critics say it will essentially lead to a ban on extracurricular activities available at private schools.

In an effort to avoid the 23% VAT hike for private schools, a new innovative idea being explored by the government is the creation of ‘independent schools’ that would be governed by an elected board of governors and be privy to the regulations and conditions that apply to state-funded schools.

Education Minister Nikos Filis refered to the VAT hike for private education and the current teacher shortages in public schools in an interview with private MEGA TV on Saturday morning. His statement concerning the fact that a VAT hike in private education is nothing more than “peanuts” had the press reeling in recent days.

The planned 23% VAT hike to private educational institutions will reportedly be extended to include private schools sending rates exploding. A reportage in daily newspaper, Ethnos, states that parents who send their children to private schools will need to dig their hands deep into their pockets paying an additional 1,500 to 2,000 euros in tuition fees per annum.

A bill introducing drastic reforms to all levels of education is to go to public consultation next week despite objections to its content by private schools and the parents of children attending cramming and language classes at those schools.