Dubai The Ministry of Education's decision allowing Indian private schools to increase fee mid-term have put many parents in a quandary.
Parents who cannot afford the 10 to 15 per cent increase announced by at least four GEMS-run schools like Our Own English High School in Sharjah and Dubai, Kindergarten Starters and the Millennium School in Dubai said they cannot consider changing their children's school as the academic year has already begun in April.
The schools have been given permission to restructure their fee by the Ministry of Education on a case by case basis though the private education bylaw bars schools from increasing their fee in the middle of the year.
"My daughter in Grade 1 at Kindergarten Starters brought the circular on Thursday and it came as a shock to us at this time of recession. The new academic year has started one month ago. Nobody will be able to leave the school because of fee increase, since the admissions are over in the UAE as well as in India," said a parent who does not want to reveal his name.
V.K., a parent of a child studying in Our Own English High School in Sharjah said the latest fee increase is unfair as the school had imposed a 110 per cent increase in transportation fee last year.
Taleem, the second largest private provider has also received approvals to restructure fee with an increase of 20 per cent in two if its schools — The American Academy for Girls in Al Mizhar and the Uptown school in Mirdif. The new fee will come into effect in the academic year 2010-2011 that starts in September.
Hanif, a parent whose daughter is a pupil at American Academy for Girls said he will be forced to pull his child out of the school because of the increase. "The tuition fee for my daughter is going up from Dh38,000 to Dh47,000 from this September. I am not going to get an increment or even a bonus from my employer. I also have a son who is in school. I do not know how I can meet the rising cost of education in Dubai. It is sad that the authorities are not concerned."
