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19 March 2024

Some Dubai schools fee close to SRK's kid's

Published
By Shuchita Kapur

Even as all private schools in Dubai unanimously call for a fee hike every year and believe The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KDHA) approved figures are just not enough in the face of rising inflation, here are some interesting facts to look at.

Seven Oaks School, a prominent and outstanding school in Kent, UK, is one where many celebrity kids go to study and some popular names that figures on the list include that of Shah Rukh Khan’s son and Amitabh Bachchan’s granddaughter.

The fee at this school is only slightly more than what some private schools charge in Dubai. The standard fees for a day pupil is £19,287 per annum, which is Dh119,215. Now let’s take a look at some of the most expensive schools in our city.

An international school run by a big group in the city charges between Dh80,000 to only slightly less than Dh100,000 in the higher grades. And, the fee is similar to another school, offering the British curriculum.

A big number of schools in the city do charge reasonable fees but believe it is nearly impossible for them to foot the ever increasing bills and have started informing parents that the fee increases for the academic year 2014-15 maybe higher as they push for a review of the existing cap.

Fee increases for 2014-15 have been fixed at 3.48 per cent for ‘outstanding’ schools, 2.61 per cent for ‘good’ schools and 1.74 per cent for the rest based on the 1.74 per cent ECI increase in 2013.

But most schools, even those in the higher fee range believe that the prescribed hikes are not enough to absorb the costs, due to higher rents and teacher salary.

According to KHDA, the objective behind the development of a framework to regulate school fees is to protect students and their parents as beneficiaries of educational services, as well as to provide a favourable environment for investors in the education sector and encourage them to improve the quality of education in Dubai.

This is achieved by creating a comprehensive mechanism for the implementation of tuition fees which takes account of the educational and economic aspects and protects the interests of all stakeholders.

However, both parties – schools and parents remain unhappy. As schools urge authorities to let them increase the fees, parents feel burdened by soaring tuition charges.

An overwhelming majority of parents in the UAE feel significant financial pressure because of the current arrangements around school fees, according to the WhichSchoolAdvisor.com.

Almost 9 out of 10 parents (87 per cent) claim school fees cause financial stress for themselves and their family, giving the other side of the picture.