Ticket prices are prohibitive

Readers complain about the price of tickets at theme parks. Other topics: special needs children, municipality fee, Gibraltar

Readers say tickets at theme parks are too expensive. Pawan Singh / The National

If residents have to pay the same prices as tourists at theme parks, then what's the point of visiting them (EFG Hermes says Dubai theme parks operator faces challenge to meet visitor count forecast, April 7)?

Zaharan Saly, Dubai

Tickets are too expensive. Ferrari World tickets are in the same bracket as those of Lego Land. Hence I did not visit it.

Aiysha Hurley, Abu Dhabi

Ticket prices at Legoland Dubai are almost double Legoland in the UK. Dh195 should be the normal price.

Natalie Birkett, Dubai

Special children need special education

As a teacher who has a special-needs child, I would say that parents should think about their decision to put their child in a "regular" school (UAE parents shun special needs assistants in favour of cheaper nannies, April 6). Many teachers do not have the special education training that many of these children need.

Often properly trained shadow teachers are difficult to find and expensive. Many children with special needs also need speech therapy, occupational therapy and other types of therapies that schools cannot and do not provide. My husband and I wanted our son in a regular school with his siblings, but that is not what was best for him or what he needed.

We have moved him to a centre. My son is happier, making good progress and getting everything he needs. As a teacher with over 20 years of experience it is really difficult, almost impossible, to teach to all the different levels of my 23 students (I have five different reading levels, four different spelling/ word work levels and several mathematics levels) and then work on, plan for and try to implement, with a shadow teacher who may know nothing about teaching/ learning and children, a number of individualised education plans for special needs students.

I think that in certain circumstances children with special needs can work in the classroom, but everyone involved needs to be honest, upfront and working towards the same goals. When a school or a teacher asks for a child to be assessed by an outside professional, parents need to comply and not move schools or ignore the issue.

Tracy Innes, Abu Dhabi

Confusion over municipality fee

Are municipality fees the same as housing fees (Questions cloud municipality fee, April 6)? If so, then for years we have been paying that fee to Dewa, which is 5 per cent of the total rent divided by 12 months.

Naad Roberts, Dubai

Dubai has had the 5 per cent for years, but Abu Dhabi only started it in February. Also in Dubai you only get charged monthly and don’t pay extra if you move out. In Abu Dhabi if you leave, they are forcing people to pay to the end of the year even though the new tenant will pay again. The system is not fair, plus generally rents are higher in Abu Dhabi.

Carol Goodey, Abu Dhabi

Will Gibraltar remain British?

Regarding your story Row between UK and Spain is a hint of how difficult Brexit will be (April 5), 96 per cent of people in Gibraltar voted to stay in Europe purely due to the fact that this would come up, as it has.

I worked in Gibraltar many years ago and I know that Gibraltarians are incredibly proud to be British. It may well be a difficult divorce, but I, for one, am certain that Gibraltar will remain British.

No doubt the Spanish will slow down border crossings again and probably stop airlines from using their airspace when travelling in and out of Gibraltar. We’ve been there before and coped, and we’ll cope again.

James English, Dubai

It’s so funny when you look at the issue this way: the UK is occupying Gibraltar, which should be part of Spain.

Meanwhile, Spain occupies Ceuta and Melilla that are a natural extension of Morocco, which in turn occupies Western Sahara. It’s the law of the jungle, where the stronger eats the weaker.

Abdel Henni, Dubai