Dubai school fee hike: 118 allowed vs 19 cannot, 9 will not

The beginning of the new academic year comes with its own set of costs for parents, who will now have to shell out more towards their children’s education.

Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), the emirate’s education regulatory authority, has approved fee hikes for 118 schools this academic year.

“KHDA received and processed fee increase applications from 135 schools,” said Mohammed Darwish, Chief of Regulations and Permits Commission of the KHDA, with the application for “eight [more] schools under process”.

The increase, he explained, is in line with the fee framework and the educational cost index issued by Dubai Statistics Centre in January.

The fee increases will reach a maximum of 3.48 per cent for schools rated 'Outstanding', 2.61 per cent for those graded 'Good', and 1.74 per cent for those in the 'Acceptable' and 'Unsatisfactory' categories.

“Out of the 127 for-profit schools, 16 were not eligible as they have been in operations for less than three years. Three were not eligible due to a pre-approved increase, while two schools confirmed no increase in the coming academic year,” he said.

“Regular fee increases for 88 schools and exceptional fee increases for 10 schools have been approved (6 as part of a pre-approved increase over several years, and 4 this year).

He added, “Out of the 27 embassy and non-profit schools, 20 have been granted an increase in fees.

“Four have not applied for an increase while three have confirmed that they don’t want an increase.”

The official clarified that schools that have been functional for less than three years or those that have been granted an exceptional fee increase in the past are not eligible for an increase this academic year. “For the academic year 2014-15, 19 schools fall in this category.”

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