In Dubai, 127 schools can increase their tuition fees from the start of the academic year next month, confirms the Knowledge and Development Authority (KHDA), the regulatory body responsible for the direction and quality of private education in Dubai.
Mohammad Darwish, Chief of the Regulations and Permits Commission at KHDA, tells GN Focus, “In line with the Schools Fees Framework released in 2012, schools are allowed to raise their fees in accordance with an Educational Cost Index (ECI) declared by the Dubai Statistics Centre (DSC) and their quality rating as announced by the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau. For the academic year 2014-15, 127 schools out of 158 are eligible to increase fees in line with the conditions in the framework.”
Latest statistics
Last year, the ECI saw an increase by 1.74 per cent over 2012, according to a report released by the DSC. This takes fees at high-end schools such as GEMS World Academy to Dh56,831 for KG1 and at mid-range schools such as Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) to Dh34,440 for FS1 and Dubai English Speaking School (DESS) to Dh31,500 for FS1. Some of the least expensive schools such as Al Diyafah High School now charge Dh9,842 for FS1.
According to the latest KHDA statistics, GEMS (IB Curriculum) was ranked “Good”, as were Al Diyafah and DESS, both UK curriculum institutions. JESS, another a UK curriculum school, was ranked “Outstanding”.
Most schools give parents the option to pay per semester. Parents say schools often offer discounts for siblings on expenses such as transportation, but not on fees.
The ECI is calculated on a regular basis and announced yearly by the DSC. It measures operating expenses for schools and differs from the Consumer Price Index for the Education Group, which measures the change in tuition fees for schools and universities and the cost of private tutoring. Wages, rents, maintenance, electricity and water, along with other factors, are key considerations in calculating the ECI.
Steadily increasing
Catering to more than 89 per cent of the student population in Dubai, private schools offer programmes to more than 243,000 students across 15 different types of curriculum.
Following the fee framework and the ECI, the fee increases this year will be within the range of 1.74 to 3.48 per cent. While schools graded “Outstanding” by the KHDA are allowed to increase fees by up to 3.48 per cent, “Good” schools can increase fees by 2.61 per cent and schools graded “Acceptable” or “Unsatisfactory” can raise fees by 1.74 per cent.
Parents have already been told of the hike in tuition fees. “We have no options but to accept it,” says Archana Agarwal, mother to a grade five student at GEMS Jumeirah Primary School (JPS), which increased its fees by more than 3 per cent. “We cannot change schools as it is very difficult to get children admitted into schools of your choice in Dubai,” she says.
“My daughter had to wait for two years to secure a place at JPS. Newer schools in Dubai are more expensive than older schools. Besides, I am happy with the school and the teachers. So all we need to do is to adjust our monthly budget to cope with the hike.”
Quality of learning
Paulo Martinez, whose six-year-old son attends The Winchester School, Jebel Ali, says that the fee hike doesn’t always lead to an improvement in the quality of learning and teaching. “Salaries in the UAE are not keeping pace with the rising expenses and cost of living. We are forced to cut corners to make ends meet.”
The KHDA didn’t allow private schools to increase fees for the last academic year, as the cost of running a school was calculated to have dropped by 1 per cent.
