Abu Dhabi: It is that time of the year again when parents with children looking for enrolment at Indian curriculum schools in the capital scramble to find seats.
For parents with children at tLeens Private School, which is facing closure in March, the situation seems even more desperate.
“Both my daughters are studying at Leens currently, and we have been looking for alternative seats for them since September,” Tanveer Ahmad, 37, a senior document controller from India, told Gulf News.
“I have contacted about seven schools so far but none of the institutions with affordable fee structures have responded positively. Our children’s futures are hanging in the balance, and it feels as if we are fighting a battle to ensure an education for them,” the father added.
Leens Private School is one of 72 villa schools marked for eventual closure by the emirate’s education sector regulator, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec), in 2009. Education officials cited health and safety concerns as a reason for systematically shutting down villa schools, which are housed in non-purpose-built premises.
Some institutions were able to relocate their facilities to purpose-built schools and continue operating, while others closed down at the specified deadlines set by the Adec.
Leens offers the Indian CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) curriculum from kindergarten up to Grade 6.
About 360 pupils are currently enrolled at the school.
Ahmad explained that he had received a letter in March 2014 from the Adec which stated that Leens would close down at the end of its 2014-2015 academic year in March 2015.
“The letter said that another school had been allocated to offer alternative seats for children at Leens. Then, in September, we received another letter from the Adec informing us that we should look for school seats ourselves as the construction of the new dedicated school was behind schedule,” he explained.
He said he is currently paying about Dh10,000 a year as school tuition for each of his daughters.
“I was able to find enrolment at one particular Indian school, but the fees are thrice the amount we pay per child and therefore unaffordable,” he added.
Syeda Fatima, another parent with a daughter enrolled at Leens in Grade 1, said she too has been frantically looking for admission.
“If we are not able to find a solution, we will be forced to send our only daughter to India to get an education. But this hardly seems like an option,” the mother said.
When contacted, a member of the management at Leens said in a statement that the school had been in touch with principals of other institutions to “offer priority admission for [their] pupils”.
“We are confident that the Adec will deal with the situation in an appropriate manner to ensure that all affected pupils will be suitably placed,” the statement read.
In March 2013, the closure of two Indian curriculum villa schools displaced more than 2,500 pupils. However, Adec officials ensured that the children were offered admission at a new purpose-built school in Musaffah area.
A statement from the Adec was not available at the time of going to print.
