Morocco: Parents Protest Tuition Hikes at French Schools, Citing Broken Promises

Increases indexed to inflation and real estate investment. This is the tribute that parents of students in this network are about to pay at the next back-to-school. At the end of an information meeting initiated by the Service for Cooperation and Cultural Action (SCAC), it was decided that tuition fees would be increased from the 2020-2021 school year, and that the calculation of these increases would differ from one school to another depending on the specific needs of each one, informs a statement from the Union of Parent-Teacher Associations (UCPE).

According to the same source, this news is not to the liking of the parents. They are outraged by the reform for two reasons: the first is related to the promise of funding for the AEFE network schools made by Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs. These funds should cover the financial needs of the establishments without the impact being passed on to the calculation of tuition fees borne by the parents, it is indicated. The second reason concerns the method of calculating the increases. Parents fear an arbitrary increase at this level since no monitoring is planned to assess the decision of each establishment.

This increase in tuition fees varying from one region to another, and based on the national inflation rate and the cost of real estate investment, constitutes a "unilateral" decision, according to the parents. It would have been taken without prior consultation.

In this regard, some advocate resistance to this reform. Others, on the other hand, are considering withdrawing their children from the French system if no decision is made to bring these fees back to reasonable levels.