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29 March 2024

Nurseries told to refund overcharged families

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By Staff

UAE authorities have told nurseries which overcharged families for the current scholar year to refund their customers and warned them against any increase in their fees through 2011-2012, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The ministry of social affairs has already rejected requests by several nurseries to raise their fees for the 2011-2012 scholastic year and replied that fresh increases would be considered during the coming scholar year provided nurseries meet specific conditions, the semi official Alittihad daily said.

“We have rejected any fee increase for the current year and told all nurseries to refund families who were overcharged,” said Mouza Al Shoumi, director of the child department at the ministry of social affairs.

“We have just completed the preparation of a new system comprising certain conditions for nurseries’ request for fee rise…it is the first time that we prepare such a system which will be introduced in December.”

Shoumi said requested fee hikes would vary and depend on “the degree of compliance” by the nurseries with such terms, adding that the ministry is also considering unifying registration fees after noticing some nurseries are exaggerating in imposing those fees.

“The ministry has discovered that some nurseries are requesting as much as Dh2,000…for this purpose, the child department has presented a recommendation to the ministry’s executive council asking it to issue a circular to all nurseries setting a unified non-refundable fee of Dh500.”

According to Alittihad, the UAE has 254 nurseries, housing more than 20,000 children.