With inflation and the pandemic setback, schools are aiming for an adjustment of up to 10%, says study

Educational institutions are already starting to prepare for the 2022 academic calendar, and most intend to readjust tuition fees. The escalation of inflation and the cooling of the pandemic are pointed out as the main causes of this movement.

According to a study by Meira Fernandes, a consultant specializing in educational institutions, 90,9% of the schools pointed out that tuition fees will be readjusted in the next school year.

Of this group, 53% said they intend to make adjustments between 7% and 10%, while 24.3% said the increase will be between 1% and 7%. The other 6.7% report that replacement will be higher, up from 10% for next year.

The survey was carried out with about 65 educational institutions, responsible for more than 25,000 enrollments directly and spread over five Brazilian states, between November 8th and 16th, 2021.

Consequences of Covid-19

To CNN, Rogério Caramante, commercial and marketing manager at Meira Fernandes and one of those responsible for the study, said that the main reasons for the readjustments in schools are the consequences of the pandemic and inflation.

“In 2020 and 2021, schools were very affected, but they did not transfer the values ​​due to uncertainty and fear of enrollment cancellations”, he said.

Caramante said the institutions had to deal with technology costs to maintain distance learning classes and with collective salaries for assistants and other employees.

However, with the population vaccinated and the consequent economic recovery, educational institutions are already planning to replace the amounts spent during the height of the health crisis in the country.

As a rule, tuition adjustments cannot be made in the middle of the school year. Therefore, the updates should only come next year.

Widespread price rise

Another reason that has made schools rethink the values ​​of tuition fees is the recent rise in inflation.

“In addition to the consequences of the pandemic, double-digit inflation was another key factor in this adjustment,” stated Caramante.

Estimates for this and next year’s inflation continue to rise.

The Extended National Consumer Price Index (IPCA) for October registered 10.67% in the 12-month period, well above the ceiling of the target pursued by the Central Bank of 5.35%.

For 2022, the most recent market forecast already points to 4.79%, almost at the limit for next year, 5%.

teaching recovery

The pandemic caused the closure of many schools, especially those of kindergarten, but data from Meira Fernandes show that the institutions’ owners are optimistic about a resumption of enrollment.

According to the survey, around 37.8% believe that, in this end-of-year cycle, re-enrollments will recover more than 35% of departures during the health crisis. They are also waiting for new students to fill the vacant seats in the classrooms.

On the other hand, about 7.6% of them still see a hostile scenario, in which there will be no recovery of the loss suffered and with empty desks in the classroom.

The remainder, which corresponds to the majority, with about 54.6% of managers, think that enrollment will be recovered, but the number will still be modest, from 5% to 30%.

They said that the trend is for these data to grow, if the country maintains effective measures to combat the coronavirus.

CNN sought out the Brazilian Association of Private Schools (Abepar), but so far it has not received a response.