Abu Dhabi: Parents are still waiting for a solution as nearly 2,000 pupils brace for the shut down of their villa schools next month.
Parents who are most concerned are the ones whose children are expected to sit for Grade 10 and Grade 12 exams in the next academic year.
“My son is a Grade 11 pupil, and finding a school for him at this point is our top priority. Unfortunately, none of the existing schools have seats,” Faisaluddin Mohammad, 46, told Gulf News.
Mohammad’s son is enrolled at the Indian Islahi Islamic School, and parents were informed this summer that the school would shut down at the end of the academic year.
The Little Flower School, which admits pupils from KG 1 to Grade 8, is the other Indian curriculum school that will also close.
Both schools are currently housed in non-purpose built facilities, and as reported by Gulf News, the decision to shut them down was announced by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) in July 2013.
Villa schools have been systematically shut down by the Adec since 2009 over health and safety concerns.
“We expected that a solution would have been reached by the school administration and educational authorities by this time. So we did not even start looking for admission at other schools for our son until January,” said Sheena Elizabeth, who is also a math teacher at the Little Flower School.
Now Elizabeth is looking for alternative employment, as well as admission for her son, who will complete Grade 3 in March.
“Registration for many of the schools has already closed. And at many of the other schools, the fee is about three times higher than what we have been paying. At this rate, if we are not able to find a suitable school, I might have to leave my husband here and move back to India with my son,” she said.
Parents are looking forward to the new branch of the Abu Dhabi Indian School in Al Wathba, which is expected to open in March 2014 and have a capacity for 3,000 pupils. In the 2014-2015 academic year, the school will be able to accommodate pupils up to Grade 6.
Another Indian curriculum school, the prestigious Mayoor Private School, is also set to open in Al Wathba. However, many parents said that they cannot afford the fee structure at this “branded institution”.
When contacted by Gulf News, the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi said it has requested a meeting with the UAE authorities to discuss the issue.
“I am waiting for the meeting with the UAE officials,” T.P Seetharam, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, said on Thursday.
He said he will seek clarification on the expected closure of some schools by the end of the 2013-2014 academic year.
“We are not taking up the issues of any individual school but trying to find a common solution to the problem [of school seat shortages],” he explained.
The ambassador added that the embassy can only request leniency on policy decisions of the authorities in this regard. If schools have problems with funds to construct a new building etc., they have to find the solutions themselves, Seetharam said.
He also said that he had been told that the construction of branch of Abu Dhabi Indian School is progressing fast and the school will be functional for the next academic year.
— With addition inputs by Binsal Abdul Khader
