School fees in Dubai can really cut into the family budget, with institutions charging tens of thousands of dirhams a year.
But Dubai is home to 217 private schools, meaning parents have many options to choose from.
Fees at the top schools can vary widely. Gems World Academy, an International Baccalaureate school, is Dh117,552 ($32,000) for Year 12, while Gems Our Own English High School charges Dh15,772.
Both have been rated “very good” by the emirate's private school regulator, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority.
FULL LIST: Dubai's most expensive private schools in 2023-2024
Parents do not need to make a choice between quality and price, however, as a number of reasonably priced schools have been rated highly by the regulator.
The KHDA has rated 39 schools as “very good”, and many do not come with a high price tag.
The Indian High School, Delhi Private School Dubai and Gems Our Own English High School – all Indian curriculum schools – charge less than Dh16,000 a year, even for senior years.
Schools in Dubai were assessed by private school inspectors this year.
The National takes a look at six “very good” schools that offer high-quality education at a reasonable price.
The Indian High School: Up to Dh10,465 a year
Many Indian schools in Dubai have recorded a rise in enrolments, particularly from families who moved to the UAE this year, and The Indian High School is one of them.
The school in Oud Metha was founded in 1961 and is one of three campuses that make up the Indian High Group of Schools. More than 15,000 pupils attend the schools.
About 9,000 pupils currently attend the Oud Metha campus.
It is one of the oldest and largest schools in Dubai and opened a new three-storey building in May 2022 that features dozens of classrooms, laboratories and activity rooms.
The school has also established a well-being centre, where pupils can seek help from counsellors if they have mental health concerns.
Annual fees start at Dh5,525 and go up to Dh10,465.
Delhi Private School Dubai: Up to Dh14,416 a year
Delhi Private School Dubai has been rated “very good” for six years in a row and has about 3,800 pupils enrolled.
The school in Jebel Ali follows India's Central Board of Secondary Education curriculum and says it focuses on academic excellence, leadership, pastoral care and ensuring children receive emotional support.
It has 288 teachers and a turnover of 16 per cent.
The school was one of the first to enact the KHDA's Rahhal programme, an initiative that treats all forms of learning as legitimate.
“Change is always good and one should not ignore new trends,” principal Rashmi Nandkeolyar said in 2019 when the school signed up for the Rahhal initiative.
“Finland has shown that alternative methods of education do work. You can see the shift in education.”
Pupils who are part of the programme can at times be allowed to miss classes due to a tournament or for skills development.
Fees for 2022/2023 at the school ranged from Dh10,298 in kindergarten to Dh14,416 in Grade 12.
Gems Our Own English High School: Up to Dh15,772 a year
The Indian curriculum school in Al Warqa 3 has more than 10,400 pupils and is one of the emirate’s largest schools.
It is also one of the oldest in the Emirates and celebrated its golden jubilee in 2018.
The school has pupils from 17 different countries. It is coeducational from kindergarten to Grade 4 and is for girls only from Grades 5 to 12.
Fees at the school range from Dh7,710 in kindergarten to Dh15,772 in higher grades.
The school has been rated “very good” by the KHDA since the 2015-2016 academic year.
MSB Private School: Up to Dh22,500 a year
MSB Private School was established in 1985 and now has two campuses for primary and secondary education.
The school in Al Nahda 2 follows the National Curriculum of England and Wales from Year 1 to Year 9, and IGCSE in Years 10 and 11.
It is one of the least expensive UK-curriculum schools in the emirate.
Annual fees at the school range from Dh9,606 in the foundation stage to Dh22,500 in Year 13.
The school says it focuses on preparing pupils to be analytical, imaginative, action-orientated and caring.
JSS Private School: Up to Dh25,116 a year
Included here as the final year's fees only just cross the Dh25,000 threshold, JSS Private School in Al Safa is an Indian curriculum institution established in 2011.
The school has more than 2,000 pupils enrolled from pre-primary level to Grade 12.
Fees start at Dh11,567 in pre-primary and reach Dh25,116 in Grade 12.
The school says it aims to help ensure pupils become confident global citizens with a keen sense of commitment, social awareness and responsibility.
It offers blended trips, dance, music, drama and group projects.
The Millennium School: Up to Dh25,594 a year
Another one included as years 11 and 12 are only Dh600 more than the Dh25,000 cut-off point, the 22-year-old school in Al Qusais has about 2,800 pupils enrolled from pre-primary to Grade 12.
It was established in 2000 with only 40 pupils and 11 teachers.
Today, there are 160 teachers, with staff turnover of 9 per cent.
Fees at the Indian curriculum school start at Dh17,405 in pre-primary and go up to Dh25,594 in Grade 12.
The school focuses on providing personalised and digital-driven learning.
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School counsellors on mental well-being
Schools counsellors in Abu Dhabi have put a number of provisions in place to help support pupils returning to the classroom next week.
Many children will resume in-person lessons for the first time in 10 months and parents previously raised concerns about the long-term effects of distance learning.
Schools leaders and counsellors said extra support will be offered to anyone that needs it. Additionally, heads of years will be on hand to offer advice or coping mechanisms to ease any concerns.
“Anxiety this time round has really spiralled, more so than from the first lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Priya Mitchell, counsellor at The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi.
“Some have got used to being at home don’t want to go back, while others are desperate to get back.
“We have seen an increase in depressive symptoms, especially with older pupils, and self-harm is starting younger.
“It is worrying and has taught us how important it is that we prioritise mental well-being.”
Ms Mitchell said she was liaising more with heads of year so they can support and offer advice to pupils if the demand is there.
The school will also carry out mental well-being checks so they can pick up on any behavioural patterns and put interventions in place to help pupils.
At Raha International School, the well-being team has provided parents with assessment surveys to see how they can support students at home to transition back to school.
“They have created a Well-being Resource Bank that parents have access to on information on various domains of mental health for students and families,” a team member said.
“Our pastoral team have been working with students to help ease the transition and reduce anxiety that [pupils] may experience after some have been nearly a year off campus.
"Special secondary tutorial classes have also focused on preparing students for their return; going over new guidelines, expectations and daily schedules.”
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4am-7am – Main card
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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- Pakistan: Imran Khan and Shahid Afridi (rumoured)
- Sri Lanka: Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan (rumoured)
- Bangladesh (Mashrafe Mortaza)
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Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
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