Private schools have defended inflation-busting fee hikes as necessary to fund salary rises and equipment upgrades.

A selection of schools approached by The Royal Gazette all reported fee rises for next year which were well above the inflation rate of three percent.

The average fee increase at the Bermuda Institute is five percent, at Saltus the increase is 4.7 percent and at Bermuda High School it is 4.5 percent.

Bermuda Institute business manager Tanya Dickenson played down the increase.

She said: "Our increase is five percent. It might seem a lot but it's only $20 extra every month. Our fees are a lot lower than any other private school.'' She said her school had various fee scales but, on average, most parents would pay $200 a year more while at the top end of the scale fees had increased by only $100 to $6,100.

She said: "That's only a two percent increase.

"We have been faced with a lot of expenses. The tuition increases don't even cover the other expenses we have incurred.

"We've had to pay out pensions. That's a big chunk. A lot of companies only pay one percent but we're paying three percent.

"We also have additional expenses with books and supplies. Unlike a lot of other private schools we provide text books.'' Saltus principal Nigel Kermode said he did not want to go into specifics about his school's fee hike which will force parents to fork out $8,300 a year.

He said: "But it's to maintain growth and we are funding three percent salary rises.

"We are improving facilities and building a new library and we are investing in computer technology.'' And he denied the fee hike would put parents off. Bermuda High School Principal Eleanor Kingsbury also said parents would bite the bullet rather than take their children elsewhere.

She said: "It's an increase of 4.55 percent. Fees will cost $8,625 next year, compared with $8,250 this year.

"People might think that sounds like a lot, but in my mind it's the only bargain in Bermuda.'' She noted that the cost of sending children to schools in Canada and the US would be far higher.

"Compared with any other country, it's a bargain. We know some people struggle to pay the fees but that's the choice they make.

"It's to meet our expenses. It's as simple as that.'' She said all private schools faced problems of raising cash unless they had endowment funds to draw on for an annual income.

And she said computer upgrades were a further factor which sent costs spiralling.

Asked whether parents would find the fees too steep, she replied: "We have got a full enrolment and we have some people on the waiting list.''