Early planning is the only way to avoid school cash crunch, say Dubai parents

The introduction of value added tax (VAT) on January 1 this year marked a new era in the UAE's economic history. Though most expatriate and local households went through an initial state of worry, families have learnt to budget expenses, especially towards education.
Considered an unavoidable expense, a 2017 report by Zurich Middle East on the cost of education in the UAE said families here will pay close to Dh1 million to educate a child, over a period of 17 years. Though the government has said no to VAT on school fees and transportation, parents churn out thousands on school supplies and associated expenses.
A recent report by the Middle East education guide Edarabia indicated that 8 out of 10 schools had updated their fees this school year, some reducing their fees by upto 10-15 per cent. In some cases, parents continue to pay skyrocketing high prices to educate their kids.
Parents pay anything from Dhs6,000 to Dhs135,000 on school fees alone. Khaleej Times spoke to a cross-section of parents on how they have been dealing the rising costs since schools reopened last month. Parents said that early planning and exercising some austerity measures are the only way to save money.
Battling high costs
Sharjah-resident and Syrian national Raed Hijazi has been living in the UAE for 14 years. "I have three children. Two boys Farouq (12) and Omar (10) and a little girl Jena (one and a half). They go to a school in Sharjah," he said. Hijazi stated that the introduction of VAT did not make too much of a difference to him as the fees haven't risen. "The cost of transport, school uniform, books, and other expenses are what makes it harder," said Hijazi. "We spend Dh65,000 annually only on school fees," he added.
The family saves on transport as the couple pick their children from school. "It also saves time as they can leave home late and get back home early," he said.
Indian national Jude D'mello, who has two children, Kyle (9) and Chantelle (11), resorts to self- transport as well. "We end up saving a lot of money, transportation is expensive," he adds. Another factor where parents save money is by buying school uniforms from outside as uniforms provided in the school is expensive.
Filipino national Richard dela Cruz and father of three children Daimler (16), Dzyrien (12), Dxonler (9) said: "I've been living in Dubai since 2002, and I pay about Dh45,000 annually for my kids. Fees and transport are unavoidable, but we try not to spend on luxury items."
Plan months in advance
All three parents are firm believers of advance financial planning and said that is the only way to manage rising expenses. Hijazi said: "I keep an excel sheet, and I keep a budget for a year. Every January, I sit with my wife, and by the end of the year, I will know how much I must save. People need to learn to plan. The whole point of planning is to avoid surprises later." He added, "People come to Dubai to save money and not just enjoy their lives." D'mello said: "I invest in special saving schemes to assure that they have money for their college education. I keep up Dh2,000 every month for this."
Naveen Sharma, chairman of ICAI Dubai Chapter, said: "Financial planning is a necessity in these uncertain times of rising costs. As we constantly look towards securing our future, a keen understanding of the finances at an early age becomes our greatest ally. As a parent, we must plan our kids' future education expenses."
Associate Dean of tech and innovation at the Indian High School Malathy Mansingh said educating children about cost-cutting from a young age is very important. "Children can get thrifty with stationary sometimes. But if parents teach them to conserve resources such as paper, electricity, water, and use technology in place of paper, the trickle-down effect regarding savings are very high."
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai

Dhanusha Gokulan

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com