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19 March 2024

What Dubai parents complain most about

Published
By Sneha May Francis

It is school fees that has topped parental woes from the beginning of 2014 up until now, Dubai’s education regulatory board has disclosed.

According to the statistics released to Emirates24|7, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) complaint logsheet shows 167 complaints towards 'school fee issues'.

'Teacher conduct' was an issue that came second, with the number of complaints logged at 149.

The total number of complaints stand at 948. Other top issues bothering parents are student admission (130), health and safety (115) and school administration affairs (115).

The KHDA introduced the parent-school contract, which currently covers 24 schools and 38,624 students, last year to help streamline the process and reduce the number of complaints.

Speaking to this website, Amal Bel Hasa, Chief of Compliance and Resolution Commission at KHDA, highlighted how the legal contract has had a positive impact.

“Last year we found there had been a 20 per cent drop in the number of complaints, as a result of the parent-school contracts,” she informed.

“In the KHDA annual survey, 89 per cent of parents welcomed the idea of the contract. Designed to outline the rights and responsibilities of both schools and parents, they agreed the initiative had been beneficial.”

The contract, which undergoes changes every year, introduced a new aspect this year where children over the age of 15 were asked to sign the contract along with their parents.

“Following feedback sessions with schools and parents, several minor amendments have been made to the contract.

“We have also enforced a zero-tolerance cyber-bullying policy, which is enforced by the schools.”

According to Hasa, a few parents suggested that they be allowed to sign the contracts at home.

“However, we encourage parents to go to the school directly, as it supports communication. The parent-school contract is fully automated and must be signed through a special device in the school.”

Complaints and numbers:

[Image via Shutterstock]