Back to school: Then & now

Dubai - On the day UAE schools reopen, parents revisit their school days to tell us how much things have changed in one generation -from school fee to tiffin box

'How did you go to school without a laptop? How did you do your homework or browse the Internet?' asked 15-year-old Vivaan Menon to his mother Amrita Menon.
"We had textbooks and we had libraries," came her reply. "They were accurate and it can be fun as well. Computers were not that common in my old school in India," said Amrita.
The concept of studying without technology and the other perks of the modern system of education is alien to millennials like Vivaan. A student of an Indian curriculum school in Sharjah, Vivaan was born in the UAE. And his mother Amrita was born in Thrissur district of Kerala and was raised entirely in the Southern state of India.
"Both my parents were teachers at the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, the system of central government schools in India ... my entire primary and high school education was very affordable."
Even though her only son Vivaan enjoys the perks of modern education and the cultural diversity that a place like Dubai has to offer, she still feels a heavy pinch on her pocket each time she has to shell out money for his school fees.
"It's not just the school and transport fees. It's also the additional fee you have to pay for extracurricular activities ... it is so much more expensive than what we paid for our education," she added.
Khaleej Times caught up with three families who reminisced their school days. Their school lives were much simpler when compared to what they are doing for their kids now, they said. In some cases they did not even have to pay school fees. According to them, the cost of education has risen drastically in the last 20 years.  
But, on the brighter side, their children enjoy more perks in terms of technology and a choice of extracurricular activities.
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com
@KTUAEReporters 

Venicia D'mello &Jude D'mello
 Indian nationals Venicia and Jude have two children, Chantelle and Kyle. The kids are six and eight years old and study at a private school in Dubai.
"I studied in a convent in Mumbai, India. I think my annual primary school fees wouldn't have exceeded Dh1,500, as per the exchange rate back then," said Venicia. For these parents, a major additional expense now is transportation fees if the child needs to attend extracurricular activities in school.
"I used to attend several after-school activities, but we didn't have to pay for it," she added. Venicia also opined that her children are always pressed for time. "I cannot compromise on their schedule. They need to wake up as early as 5.30am to get to school. However, during my time school began at 9am and I needed to be up only by 8," said Venicia.
"I think our lives were simpler, but that is not the case with children now. For information on subjects, we would just read text books. But with my children, they run a Google search for everything," added Venicia.
She pointed out that children also have limited options to play outdoor games today.

Sandra Willis & Jihad Bsaibes
British-Lebanese national Sandra Willis and husband Jihad Bsaibes have three children- Mia (9), Jad (7), and Leila (4). The family lives in the Green Community and the children attend a private school in Al Barsha. Sandra completed her primary and high school education in Sharjah and said she can see a stark difference in both the quality, and price of education in UAE. There has been an annual increase in the price of school fees, at a rate of 3 to 5 per cent.
"The diversity of nationalities of the student-teacher body and the exposure the students have is one of the best in the world. Students can't enjoy that anywhere else," said Willis.
When Sandra was schooling, the expatriate community had a very limited choice of schools. "There also wasn't any competition to gain acceptance into school. But now admissions to school have become very competitive," she said.
The eligibility tests of entrance to schools have become very complicated and there are long waiting lists. Sandra and her family has a particularly rough time with her older child as she was also grappling with a learning disability. "In that sense, such things are anxiety provoking for parents," she added. She stated that schools today focus more on the holistic development of the child and not just academic excellence.

Amina Soussi & Hisham Laalaoui
Algerian nationals Amina and Hisham have two boys, Shohaib and Akram who are 14 and 10 years old respectively. The family lives in Sharjah and the children attend a school in Al Garhoud. "I was born and raised in Algeria, however my husband is Moroccan. We've been living in the UAE for 19 years," said Amina.
Speaking about her experience as a student in Algeria, Amina said she lead a very simple life. "Public school education is free in my country. I didn't pay anything for my primary, secondary, or high school education. The school was just 10 minutes away from my house and I would walk from home, so the question of transport fees never arose," said Amina. Her school provided a lab coat as uniform and lunch was provided for free in the school canteen.
Amina said that the cost of education is a burden on parents, but agrees that students now receive very high standards of education, unlike what Amina experienced. "Children are better prepared for postgraduate life. I learned about power point presentations only after I started my career. But, my 14-year-old son is fully aware of MS Office and knows how to make PPT's entirely by himself," said Amina.

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