Author:
Maria Gregoriou
THE ECONOMIC crisis will force some parents to remove their children from private schools while new enrollments are expected to drop.
Many private schools are offering discounts and renegotiating fee payment structures in an attempt to stem the flow.
Even the island’s most famous fee-paying school, The English School in Nicosia, is “facing vast economic difficulties”, according to Andreas Lordos, a member of the board of governors.
A recent letter from the parents association to The English School board and headmaster urged the board to press for a reduction in fees.
“Certain measures must be taken now to provide the necessary support to parents that will enable them to continue to send their children to the English School next year. We have been the recipients of numerous letters and phone calls requesting your immediate actions as regards reductions in school fees,” the letter said.
The English School’s chairman Antonis Valanides was more upbeat, saying it was too soon to tell if parents would have problems paying tuition fees next year. “Students have already taken the entrance exam and classes have been organised. Up until now we have not heard of parents who are thinking of taking their children out of the school,” he said.
But he added the school had allowed an extension for fees to be paid. “Fees that should have been paid by the end of March can now be paid at the end of April,” he said.
The Pascal English School was one of the first private schools to announce the reduction of fees due to the economic crisis.
“The school will offer a reduction of €2,000 for students who will enter the first class next year and this reduction will continue until they graduate,” said Pantelis Andreou, executive chairman of the Pascal English School.
“If parents are having problems paying fees, we will offer them a ten per cent discount for the school year,” he added.
Despite the discounts, Andreou said he did expect the number of new enrollments to fall as a result of the crisis.
A teacher at another private school in Nicosia, who did not wished to be named, said their school did not have actual figures yet for registrations for next year but many parents were thinking of taking their children to public schools because they cannot pay the fees.
“Students have not left during the year, but we have heard that parents with two children in the school will be removing the youngest. Students who are towards finishing school are more likely to stay on and their younger siblings will be taken out,” said the teacher.
Emilios Hadjipetris, director of the GC School of Careers said that his school is also taking measures to help parents with any financial difficulties.
“We will give an increased discount to families that have more than one child in the school. Also, we will deduct some extra charges from certain subjects such as, science,” he said.
Chairman of the Junior School and Senior School board Nick Papandreou said the board is currently reviewing what they can do to reduce school fees.
“We have to be wise about how we will reduce fees as we are a non profit organisation. It is a balancing act situation as any cuts we make to the school budget will have an effect on the students and may reduce their learning experience,” Papandreou said.
The school was hit particularly hard as it had deposits of above 100,000 euros in Laiki Bank and was originally subject to a haircut under the terms of the island’s bailout.
The government has said educational institutions were to be exempt from the haircut but, according to Papandreou, the school has received no confirmation of this.
At tertiary level, the future of private education is less bleak, though universities are still taking precautions.
Fees for private universities in Cyprus are not cheap, averaging around €9,000 per year (though some charge as little as €6,000). Universities in Britain, for example, charge only a little more, £9,000 or €10,500. But the cost of rents and other living expenses pushes the overall bill for those studying abroad much higher, and this is to the advantage of local private universities.
“Before they would send them to a university abroad without going over the budget in detail but now this will all change. Many students will prefer to stay in Cyprus because the overall expenses are cheaper,” said managing director of the European University Cyprus, Christoforos Hadjikyriacou.
He said fees at the university have stayed the same for the last four years but in response to the crisis, the university board is to meet and discuss how fees could be reduced or paid in smaller intervals.