Abu Dhabi confirms freeze on private school fees for 2020-2021 academic year

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi’s private schools will not be permitted to increase their fees over the 2021-2022 academic year, the emirate’s education regulator has confirmed. The decision will apply to 221 schools regulated by the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (Adek).

“For the 2021-2022 academic year, Adek has taken the decision to freeze private school tuition fees. This is based on the effective framework we have developed to regulate the education system in the emirate, including the Educational Cost Index (ECI) that uses cost structure data and is calculated in collaboration with the Statistics Centre-Abu Dhabi (SCAD), and the school’s Irtiqaa Inspection results, the comprehensive evaluation system that measures the quality of education in schools,” Adek told Gulf News.

Easing the burden

The decision is one of the many measures implemented by Adek to ease the burden on families affected by the financial and economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the authority had called upon school operators and education providers to provide fee discounts for families burdened by the pandemic. In January 2021, Adek collaborated with health authorities to ensure free COVID-19 screenings regularly for children returning to school.

In addition, Adek had announced the launch of a chartered school, which will offer virtual lessons under the UAE Ministry of Education curriculum.

Adek’s tuition fee freeze mirrors the Knowledge and Human Development Authority’s (KHDA) decision announced in Dubai on Monday. KHDA put a stop to school fee increases for the second year in a row.