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Unfair, say angry parents about school fee hike in Dubai

Khaleej Times spoke to several parents, majority of whom were hesitant to come on record fearing a backlash from school.

Dubai: Parents across the board are annoyed with the decision to once again allow school fee increase in Dubai. Changes to the Education Cost Index (ECI) now allow schools to increase fees from 2.92 to 5.84 per cent.

Khaleej Times spoke to several parents, majority of whom were hesitant to come on record fearing a backlash from school.

A Pakistani national who has lived in Dubai for over a decade and a mother of two girls said:  “School fee increase in such a short span is not justified. I have two children. The elder one is in a higher grade, so we have to pay the fees in a single cheque. This is not affordable anymore. My children study in an average-priced school. With this increase, we will have to decide between paying exorbitant amounts or compromising on their education.”

Dinesh Thakur (name changed) has a 13-year-old daughter in Grade 7 at Raffles World Academy. Thakur believes “schools in Dubai are run like businesses, and the main agenda is profit.

He says: “Schools keep increasing the fees on some pretext or the other. It’s even more expensive than the US or Europe. The schools here need to have some kind of cap. We already pay about Dh56,000 per annum for grade 7. Every month her fees is 5,000, but we pay more for the school bus, extra curricular activities and so on. I’m paying Dh70-75,000 a year, close to $20,000.”

He remains doubtful about the quality of education. “Teachers come and go, and every new one has to start from scratch. Schools keep saying they need funds to pay and retain the experienced teachers,” he added.

He raises the point of KHDA inspections which according to him are a complete farce.

“The inspections need to be surprise checks. Not one-month notice given before the inspection, which gives teachers and students time to be prim. The books are kept ready. Projects are kept ready ... hallways are decorated, but that doesn’t give inspectors an accurate picture. They must catch loopholes. Checks must be sudden. They should know what all the increased fees is really going towards.”

It’s too soon yet for Neha Pandey, mother of 3-year-old Aren to worry about school fees, as nursery school fees aren’t affected.

“He goes into SS1 this year,” she says, adding, “in general, education here is so expensive — education and medicines, that I worry it will become even more expensive to raise him here. I wish education was covered by companies....”

Nick Watson, Founder at Children’s Media Network who manages PearlFM says: “Within my circle of parents, school fees haven’t gone up. But personally, I am not the best person to discuss this with, my kids go to a special needs school, Widad Centre, that comes under the ministry of social affairs, not KDHA. But education is a big part of our radio network, and a fee hike would affect people at every level, it would have a roll-on affect, and we would definitely want to have guests come across to the radio station and discuss it.”

Leena Madhok — name changed — has two boys, 7 and 11, who study in Jumeriah Baccalaureate School says: “I believed if a school’s ranking has gone from a ‘Good’ to an ‘Outstanding’, and they justify their need to increase the fee, then they can, otherwise it makes no sense and is really random.”

Parents whose sons and daughters were in the senior classes expressed a sense of jadedness. “We’re used to it,” seemed to be the prevalent sentiment.

nivriti@khaleejtimes.com