Dubai: A popular Indian education trust, which lends its brand name to around 220 institutions worldwide, is re-negotiating licence fee paid by Gulf-based schools with thousands of students, Gulf News has learnt.
The Delhi Public School Society, known by its popular acronym DPS, is demanding an increase in licence fee charged from schools in Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, sources in the society said. “The sticking point is the format of the licence fee — the society wants to charge for every student instead of a flat annual fee,” the sources explained. The revised fee format is likely to put a “substantial” burden on the Gulf schools affiliated to the DPS society, another source familiar with the negotiations told Gulf News.
The sources refused to disclose the annual fee paid by Gulf schools but said under the revised format, it will depend on the student strength of the schools.
Speculations in the UAE started after the society website dropped names of DPS schools in Sharjah and Dubai. Some UAE parents raised concerns that the schools may lose the affiliation as the society lends its brand name and logo to the licensed schools and provides technical support. The two schools in the UAE have a strength of 11,000 students, while schools in Qatar and Kuwait have 5,000 and 3,500 students respectively. The DPS Sharjah and DPS Dubai schools began operations in 2000 and 2003 respectively.
The sources, however, played down parents’ concerns saying: “The negotiations which started in April will be over in two months and there is a 90 per cent chance that the negotiations will be successful and the licence will be renewed for another five years.”
“It depends on who blinks first,” they added.
The sources also claimed the licensing issues would not impact the functioning of the schools but the parents who contacted Gulf News said the DPS brand was important to them. Comments from the society or Gulf schools were not available but the DPS Society website warns parents: “Beware of fake/unauthorised/illegal schools operating under the name of Delhi Public Schools/DPS …”
The website, meanwhile, lists DPS Ajman, a new entity from the society stable.
What is DPS Society?
This non-profit trust, over six decades old, is not new to controversies. The trust, managed by prominent former bureaucrats and politicians, has fought court battles and besides the DPS Society, two other organisations operate with almost identical names — Delhi Public School Ghaziabad Society and Delhi Public World Foundation.
