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Ministry recommends educational institutions not to raise tuition fees by more than 25 percent

The education ministry has recommended higher education institutions and vocational and technical schools not to raise their tuition fees by more than 25 percent.

The increase for students of some educational institutions will actually be smaller, said the ministry's press office.

Tuition fees are to be increased in one stage either on November 1 or retroactively on October 1.

The fees paid by both full-time and part-time students may be raised, but only in proportion to increases in training costs, the press office noted.

Higher tuition fees are necessary because the First-Class Worker Rate, which is used for calculating pay rates in the public sector, increased by 28 percent on October 1 to 151,000 rubels and because goods and services have risen in price, the press office said.

The ministry has recommended the administrations of education institutions to explain to students and their parents why they would have to pay more for tuition. Students should be allowed to pay the additional amount of fees later than required by their contracts and in several installments, the press office said.

First Deputy Education Minister Alyaksandr Zhuk promised in mid-July that higher schools would raise their tuition fees by no more than 20 percent in the new academic year.

Belarus' higher education institutions raised their tuition fees by up to 30 percent in January.

According to Education Minister Syarhey Maskevich, that happened only because of an increase in the First-Class Worker Rate.

The rate had to be raised to bring average before-tax monthly pay up to the projected level, $500, Mr. Maskevich told reporters in late January, acknowledging that any price rise was an unpopular measure.

Bringing average monthly pay up to $500 was one of Alyaksandr Lukashenka's key promises in the recent presidential race. His opponents had warned that the fulfillment of the promise would lead to serious economic problems immediately after the election, including the acceleration of inflation. //BelaPAN