There is a common misconcep-tion that healthcare and education are among the most recession-proof of all sectors. In developed nations with universal education, this may well be the case – after all, it's the state that's picking up the bill.

But in the UAE and other countries where private – that is to say, paid-for – education is the norm, the idea that schooling is recession-proof is too simple a notion.

Firstly, the expat majority in the Emirates has long been burdened with very high tuition fees for their children, often as high as the best prep schools and red brick/Ivy League universities.

The burden of fees were, until recently, often offset as part of expat's remuneration and compensation package. But that is becoming rarer, and therefore school costs are a disincentive to people choosing to stay here.

More pressingly for schools, however, is the fact that as the number of redundancies climbs in the UAE, the number of people leaving increases, and school rolls decline.

Some schools – but certainly not all – are faced with the prospect of maintaining and/or improving the quality of education they provide while at the same time dealing with a significant fall in admissions, and therefore revenue. (That said, in at least one instance a school is oversubscribed by 100 per cent.)

Dubai's Knowledge and Human Development Authority, which regulates the education system in the emirate, yesterday released a "league table" of schools, ranking them in four categories, from outstanding to unsatisfactory. Based on the ranking, schools can increase their fees from anywhere between 15 per cent and seven per cent for the coming academic year.

Schools would, undoubtedly, argue that annual increases are vital to enable them to invest further in education, pay teachers' salaries, and offset inflationary pressures.

But surely now is the wrong time entirely to add to the burden already faced by many professional expats, many of whom are uncertain what the future holds as far as their long-term employment is concerned.

Additional expenditure could, in the end, become the tipping point, the catalyst which will force a professional to leave the Emirates and return to their home nation, where education is probably cheaper, if not free.

All in all, schools should give great thought before introducing any increases in fees, for the greater good of the UAE. Is it wise in such troubled times to bite the hand that feeds?