Avtandil Abdushelishvili, the founder of the private school "Shavnabada" and a member of the board of the Association of Private Schools declares that tuition fees in private schools have increased by 10-15% on average for the new academic year. As he explains, one of the main reasons for the price increase was the growth in teachers' salaries. As the representatives of the sector say, due to the increased remuneration in public schools, it is difficult for them to compete with the state in terms of human resources.
"In our case, the prices have increased by 10%, and it is the same for other schools, there is an increase of about 10-15%. We had to raise salaries for private schools, the state is a direct competitor of private schools. Therefore, we can openly say that we are in open competition with the state. We had to review the salary policy, while the prices of various services are increasing, which automatically leads to an increase in the price for the customers," says Abdushelishvili.
According to information provided to BMG by the school administrations, tuition fees in private schools for the current academic year are as follows:
"Buckswood" school costs GEL 11,900 and increases the fee by 15% every 3 years.
Tuition fees in "Green School" up to I-VII classes amount to GEL 7,900, while GEL 6,900 - in the upper classes.
"Newton Free School" has two programs - standard, corresponding to the local education system, where the annual cost is GEL 9 thousand, and there is also an IB program, the price for grades I-VI is 4,500 EUR, while for grades VI-VIII 5 thousand EUR, grades VIII-X - 5.500 EUR. In the final classes, the price increases to 6,000 EUR.
The annual fee in UG School is GEL 13,000.
