Last Tuesday, the Minister of the Economy, Sergio Massa, and of Education, Jaime Perczyk, announced that, after reaching an agreement with the business chambers, the private schools with a state subsidy will be added to the Fair Prices program.
In this way, the private schools will increase their fees by 16.8% in March, 3.35% in April, May and June, and 4% in July, which will bring predictability to families, facing the start of a new school year in the institutions.
During his announcement, the Minister of Education called on all provinces to join the program: “Argentina has an educational system in which 75% are public establishments and the remaining 25, private schools. That’s why we appreciate you joining this agreement.”
After the invitation, the minister announced through his social networks that 18 provinces will join the program and invited the rest of the districts to do the same: “18 provinces told us that they adhere to the proposal and we invite the rest to join”.
However, the provinces of Córdoba and Mendoza anticipated that they will not join the measure. From Córdoba, the provincial authorities assured that the proposal is “inapplicable”; while in Mendoza they stated that two weeks ago an increase of 24% was authorized for March, well above what the Government proposes.
For its part, the Government will analyze the situation with each province, so that they adhere to the program, since with this they seek to bring “certainty and predictability to Argentine families”, as both ministers stated during their presentation.
In addition to the fact that the Government established caps on increases for the institutionsalso plans to add the school basket to the program, since, for this 2023, school supplies have increased more than 120%.
Which provinces joined the program
The provinces that expressed their support for the government initiative are: Buenos Aires, Catamarca, the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Chaco, Chubut, Entre Ríos, La Pampa, La Rioja, Misiones, Río Negro, Salta, San Juan, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe , Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego and Tucumán.
For their part, Corrientes, Formosa, Jujuy, Neuquén and San Luis have not yet made a decision on the matter, so conversations will begin with the sector’s chambers to join the initiative.
