DOHA: The Qatar Chamber has come to the rescue of private schools that are operating from rented premises and whose landlords have been increasing rents in violation of the law.
The law permits the owners of properties that house private schools to raise rents by only five percent annually. But there are some landlords who have been flouting the rule and raising rents by as much as 30 to 50 percent, according to the Chamber.
The complaints of all the aggrieved schools are being collected by the Chamber.
They will be forwarded to the Central Rent Dispute Settlement Committee of the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning.
The education committee of the Chamber, representative body of the private sector, said it hoped the rent dispute settlement panel would take action against the erring landlords.
As a first step, the complaints of the schools against the landlords are being referred to the Chamber’s legal committee. The committee is being asked to make a strong case for the school managements for the central rent dispute settlement panel to look into.
The Chamber’s education committee met yesterday presided over by Mohamed bin Ahmed Tawar Al Kuwari, and took the above decision. The committee also raised the issue of fees being increased by some schools and said that the fee hike should not be done for profit-making by school managements.
If the schools raise their fee they must also ensure that they improve the quality of their education, too, said the committee members.
A panel member said that earlier there was a rule that schools could raise the fee by five percent only in three years or when there is the need for it for valid reasons.
The committee later talked about Indian schools in particular and noted with concern that while most schools had more than 2,500 students on their rolls, at least one school had over 10,000 students on its campus.
A report is being prepared on the matter which would likely be discussed at the next meeting of the committee.
After this the committee will take up the issue with the authorities concerned in the government so the problem of crowding in this particular school is resolved.
The Peninsula
