Angry Reaction To School Fee News

Following an article published yesterday highlighting the fact that Dubai's parents are now paying more than ever for their children's education, cash-strapped parents vented their anger at a system they feel is letting them and their families down.

In Dubai, KHDA figures show 39% of students are currently in schools that cost less than Dhs10,000. And, looking at the 26 new schools opened in the past year, and those due to open in 2015- things are only set to get more expensive for the city's parents.

"The schools it refers to under Dhs10,000 are all Indian curriculum...nothing like what they charge for some of the British or IB schools," said mum Eilidh Edmiston.

A furious reaction followed yesterday's article in the Kaleej Times, which stated parents need to understand that for top-class education and state-of-the-art facilities, Dubai's parents simply need to accept the associated costs.

Talking to the Kaleej Times, Omar Daniel, founder of the Swiss International Scientific School due to open in September 2015 said, “there are people who look for premium schools. We are delivering a bit more than what other schools offer. Dubai is developing in terms of quality and this has become possible only by bringing good quality teachers to the region. This certainly has a cost associated with it.”

Angered mum Salwa responded to the article saying, "Schools in Dubai are extorting money from parents. I'm shocked the government doesn't seem to care about making education affordable for parents....make more affordable schools, I don't care about swimming pools and music classes etc. I'm just really really disappointed..."

Mohammed Darwish, Chief of Regulations and Permits Commission at Knowledge and Human Development Authority told the Kaleej Times, “The School Fees Framework was the result of a consultative effort. Many government entities participated in preparing this framework of school fees, that is the Executive Council, Department of Economic Development, Dubai Statistics Centre, Department of Finance, Dubai Chamber and Dubai Real Estate. The efforts resulted in the development of a comprehensive framework which can be applied in general to all private schools that have been in operation for over three years.”

However, the news comes as many of Dubai's parents feel financially stretched to near breaking point already with the rising cost of living, health and education and yet with no imminent sign of wage increases on the horizon. The response? Many feel the only option is to borrow.

"Dubai is catering to an elite class with ever increasing medical expenses, rents, school fees and regular commodities. Within a few years prices will likely go even higher. So many schools are charging over Dhs50,000 which just doesn't justify the education or any of the facilities they are providing.  The cost is forcing parents to take loans to match up with these rising school trends," said mum Anum Ali.

With more and more parents seeking 'affordable' school places, pressure is growing on the schools at the lower end of the fee structure, however, many parents feel the education their children receive in these institutes is often less than satisfactory. In fact, a recent whicschooladvisor.com survey found that only 33 percent of parents though their fees represented good value for money.given the quality of education on offer.

The same survey also found that parents paying Dhs 44,000 and below were the most dissatisfied with the level of education they received and believed it to be of a lower standard than they would find in their home country.

"These schools are just minting money from us claiming they giving our kids the best education...but if you were to compare their learning standards here to back in the UK, they can't compare, despite the rising fees... and for what? Education here is still way behind, if you want us to pay for our kids education fine, but at least teach them properly," said mum Farzila Nizam Umm Muhammad.

According to Whichscholadvisor.com's co-founder James Mullan, "It's clear that there is a lack of mid-market schools and schools for people on low income but no-one seems to have come up with a way of dealing with this. The KHDA keep getting applications for high end British curriculum/IB schools, and the days of new 'not for profit' schools funded by large corporates and/or benefactors from particular communities appear over. We seem to be in a Mexican stand-off with investors, regulators and school operators waiting for each party to make the first move to facilitate what is clearly needed."

Mum Salwa added, "It's just so sad. Without us middle class people this country's economy wouldn't survive. Who else would do the lower level jobs?"

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