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Rising Education Cost Forces Expats to Send Children Back Home

ABU DHABI — Several expatriates, particularly Asians, are sending their children to their respective countries for schooling, due to the rising cost of education in the UAE, revealed a Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) report released on Sunday.

“The cost of education for Asian expatriates in Dubai is relatively much higher than the costs in their countries.

“This is especially true at the secondary and tertiary levels. Thus, expatriate workers usually send their teenage children home for schooling, to include even those who were born in Dubai,” said the chamber’s monthly Economic Bulletin in a report titled “Cost of education in Dubai — How will increases affect families?”.

“I have sent my older daughter to India for her college education after a cost and quality survey among colleges here.

“We found the tuition and boarding fees gigantic and nearly as expensive as colleges in the US,” said Parveen Kazmi, a parent.

“Several Indian families send their children back home as no one wants to compromise on education.

This affects the social fabric and familial ties as children could be psychologically affected when they are growing up separately,” she added.

“I was forced to send my children and wife back home recently, since it was extremely hard to make both ends meet in the wake of high school fees. I thought they would be able to receive quality education at affordable costs in Pakistan,” said Mehmoud, a Pakistani expatriate residing in Dubai.

According to the report, a year’s tuition fee in a private secondary school, in 2005, ranged from Dh 3,000 to Dh46,000. In 2008, the corresponding tuition fees ranged from Dh3,000 to Dh58,000.

“At the tertiary level, estimated total tuition fees for a three-year course in most academic institutions ranged from about Dh50,000 to Dh125 000 in 2005, which correspondingly increased to Dh60,000 to Dh140,000 in 2008.

The DCCI report also noted a steep decline in the number of expatriates aged between 10 and 19.

preeti@khaleejtimes.com