The issue of school fees is of great concern (FNC to call for limits on rises in school fees, Apil 10).
Great concern because it seems no one wants to talk about the elephant in the room. The reason why schools here are so expensive is because the cost of land and buildings is exorbitant, let alone facilities. It’s true that some land has been allocated to schools, but it is mostly for government schools and far away from the city.
Moreover most schools are seen as businesses, so why shouldn’t they increase fees to generate profit?
The problem – and this is the elephant in the room – is that our government schools are not good enough. I know that many people will be angry with what I am writing, but I feel it is my duty as a citizen to mention this as I would rather send my child to a public school than a private one, because this way the child mixes with everyone not just the elite or children from a similar background. But I will never sacrifice my child’s education to prove a point.
Lastly, I want to give a solution. The best education system is not American, British, French or Arabic. The best is the Finnish model. All schools in Finland are public and they all have one standard – excellent.
It builds schools with the aim to provide a safe and happy environment for the child to prosper without punishment, homework or standard testing. But don’t take my word for their success.
The World Economic Forum has ranked it the number one schooling system in the world. There must be a reason it beat the US, the UK, France, Singapore and China in this respect.
Let’s try to change the system for all. Let us not get bogged down by pride and sensitivities. For our children’s sake, let us do what is best for them and not us. Our children deserve the best.
Mishal Kanoo, Dubai
Confusion over humidity
The story How UAE's relative humidity makes it too hot to handle (April 20) left out one important factor, and that is dewpoint.
Relative humidity (RH) can be explained as the “closeness the air is to saturation”. When the RH is less than 40 per cent, it feels dry outside and when the RH is greater than 80 per cent it feels moist outside (dewpoint will determine if it is uncomfortably moist or just regularly moist). Between 40 and 80 per cent RH is comfortable if the temperature is also comfortable.
The worst combination for human comfort is a high dewpoint (18°C or above) combined with a high RH. If the dewpoint is above 18°C, it will generally always feel uncomfortably humid outside.
Obviously, the temperature could climb to over 37°C and result in a low RH, but the quantity of moisture in the air is still high and will be noticed.
The optimum combination for human comfort is a dewpoint of about 15°C and a RH of between 50 per cent and 70 per cent (this would put the temperature at about 23°C). The air feels dry outside when both the dewpoint is below 15°C and the RH is less than 40 per cent.
Now the dilemma, how do you differentiate the “meaning” between a high dewpoint and a high RH when they both indicate the air is humid? Dewpoint is related to the quantity of moisture in the air while relative humidity is related to how close the air is to saturation.
How you understand this difference in meaning can be a challenge. The challenge can be overcome by describing how the weather feels and relate that information to the current dewpoint and relative humidity.
Tom Plant, Dubai
India makes Kashmiris suffer
Regarding Kapil Komireddi’s opinion article India’s moral claim to Kashmir has never seemed more fragile (April 21), India never had any moral claim to Kashmir since 1947. India and Pakistan could have sorted out the Kashmir issue, but it’s India’s hegemony and arrogance that have created perils for people in Kashmir.
Moza Bhutta, Dubai
