Indecu joins fight to set a cap of 15 percent on increase in fees private schools can charge

Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): The national institute for the defense of the consumer (Indecu) joined in the fight to set a cap of 15 percent on the increase in fees private schools can charge. Indecu president Eduardo Saman said schools raising fees above the official ceiling would be fined by up to 3,000 tax units.

Saman warned that any school or college that went above the limit set out in the Official Gazette earlier this week would be "sanctioned with all the weight of the law." Unofficial estimates suggest fines could reach Bs.F 111,000 on the basis of Saman's statement.

Low pay is said to have persuaded some teachers to leave the profession to seek better paid jobs. Venezuelan Chamber of Private Education president Octavio De Lamo calculates that there's a shortage of about 30 percent in teacher supply.

Critics of the measure claim that the ceiling is aimed less at protecting parents' pockets than squeezing private sector education. They argue that the permitted increase would barely cover the cost of a pay raise for teachers.