It was learned that while Ministry of National Education Minister Mahmut Özer and representatives of private education institutions met recently, support was called for against the cost increases and regulations during the meeting. Ahmet Akça, President of the Private Education Association, who was present at the meeting, drew attention to the need to reinstate the support practice applied to private schools in the past against the deteriorated income-expenditure balance.
Representatives of private education institutions met with the Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer and conveyed their problems and demands. Making statements about the meeting, Ahmet Akça, President of the Private Education Association, reminded that the Ministry of National Education made a decision on the increase rates with the regulation regarding the price increases of private schools, and stated that the figures determined by the regulation were calculated over the figures for 2021. Akça said, “We called for the support of private schools against the price increases experienced during the year.”
"THE SUPPORT THAT WAS REMOVED IN THE 2018 MUST BE BROUGHT BACK AGAIN"
Drawing attention to the economic problems experienced, Akça stated that although the increasing costs have shaken the income-expenditure balance in private schools, the administrators continue to work with self-sacrifice. “In order to compensate for the damage to be caused by the income-expenditure balance that deteriorated against private schools, we have contacted both our Ministry of National Education and other ministries throughout the year. We demanded that the industry be supported, but unfortunately this request was not met. Private schools are definitely supported in every country where they are common. Our request is to reintroduce the special education support that was removed in 2018. We think it would be right to reduce Value Added Tax (VAT) to 1 percent, especially in education, starting from 2023,” he said.
“THE BALANCE OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURES MUST BE RESTORED AGAIN”
Expressing that the price increases in private schools were much higher than expected, Akça emphasized that private schools expected support to be provided against the cost increases, he said, “We think that the reduction of VAT to 1 percent, the ability to meet the employer's share of Social Security Institution (SGK) as a support by our state, and the reintroduction of education and training support, which was applied until 2018, will be a great support for private schools that have been in a very serious economic recession in the recent period. Our expectation is to restore the income-expenditure balance in 2023-2024, which deteriorated against private schools in the 2022-2023 education season. We have been sharing these findings and requests with the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries for a long time.”