Sharjah's private schools regulator is assessing plans for a September return to the classroom. Pawan Singh / The National
Sharjah's private schools regulator is assessing plans for a September return to the classroom. Pawan Singh / The National
Sharjah's private schools regulator is assessing plans for a September return to the classroom. Pawan Singh / The National
Sharjah's private schools regulator is assessing plans for a September return to the classroom. Pawan Singh / The National

Coronavirus: UAE's most expensive schools forecast to take hit as parents look to save cash


Anam Rizvi
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The UAE's most expensive schools could take the biggest financial hit from the coronavirus pandemic, as parents look to make savings and weigh up the impact of longer-term study from home.

Education analysts predict many parents will look at moving their children to more affordable mid-tier schools after the summer.

Maya El Hachem, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group, said the fact that top schools' sporting facilities and other assets may remain closed would be a factor.

“Parents will want to move [their children] to affordable schools," said Ms El Hachem, who is based in the global consultancy's Dubai office.

"We may also see Emirati parents shift from private to public education,” she said, in reference to the free government-run school system.

“Schools need to be concerned about retaining pupils because some families are going to lose their jobs and might want to relocate."

There was already a need in for lower fee schools that provided excellent quality education. This problem was apparent before the Covid-19 crisis

She said some parents had already begun moving their children and there has been an increased interest in homeschooling, in which parents teach their own children using an online curriculum, though it remains relatively rare.

School operators including Taaleem and Gems Education, the country's two largest groups, have begun preparing for a "blended" model that would see groups of pupils study at home and in school at different times of day, presenting parents with childcare challenges.

"High fee paying schools were operating below their capacity [before the pandemic] and there was already a need in for lower fee schools that provided excellent quality education. This problem was apparent before the Covid-19 crisis," said Ms El Hachem.

“I think we will see some of the schools facing a situation of not being able to financially sustain themselves and if they don’t get direct support they may consider closing down.”

Rising School in Nad Al Sheba, an American primary that opened in 2017 and charged between Dh33,000 to Dh52,000, said it would close its doors on July 2, citing the virus outbreak as the reason.

Schools worldwide had to spring to action when their campuses were closed to prevent the spread of the virus. Logistical challenges had to be quickly overcome, including investing in online programmes as well as training teachers.

"The UAE as a country has one of the highest proportions of private education in the world compared to public," said Ms El Hachem.

“There has been a proliferation of very high fee-paying schools in the past few years opening up.

"And these are struggling the most as they have invested the most in infrastructure but don’t have an established student body or a strong reputation yet."

She said mid-range schools operate at lower margins and are more resilient to shocks.

More than 810,000 pupils attend the UAE’s 643 private schools. About 280,000 pupils, mostly Emiratis and Arabic speakers, attend 600-plus public schools.

Rising School in Nad Al Sheba said it would close on July 2, the last day of term, citing financial pressures relating to the coronavirus outbreak. Chris Whiteoak / The National
Rising School in Nad Al Sheba said it would close on July 2, the last day of term, citing financial pressures relating to the coronavirus outbreak. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Dubai's private school regulator, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), said 41 new schools opened in the emirate between 2016-2019, bringing the total to 209. Eight new schools were due to open in Dubai by September 2020, creating more than 13,000 new places.

Since 2016, 10 private schools have merged or closed in Dubai, according to KHDA.

The regulator dissuaded parents from homeschooling their children - a controversial form of education - saying that pupils who do not complete their third term this year will be considered for withdrawal from school. If they wish to be signed up for the 2020/21 academic year, pupils must present a "transfer certificate" from their previous school stating that they have finished the year.

Asked about how private schools may have to adapt to a post-coronavirus future, KHDA directed The National to an online session presented by its director general Dr Abdulla Al Karam, who said changes would have to be made.

"Today, we are thinking about what the post Covid-19 world will look like, and we are certain that this global crisis has presented a unique opportunity that allowed us to create a positive change in our view of the educational system,” said Dr Al Karam.

“What was considered good enough in the past will not suffice moving forward.”

Dr Leila Hoteit, a senior partner at Boston Consulting Group, said schools will have to heavily invest in digital platforms to offer high quality education to pupils of all backgrounds online.

She also said there had been a race between schools to provide the most attractive physical facilities, including sprawling sports centres.

"That’s part of the reason why education here was one of the most expensive in the world," she said.

"It was not that the schools were making huge profits but they had two major sources of cost, spending on beautiful facilities and on international teachers.

"Also, many high fee-paying schools came on at the same time. In the future, authorities need to co-ordinate that these do not all launch at the same time."

Kalthoom Ali Salem, a committee member of Education Business Group, which represents more than 100 private schools in UAE, said operators had already offered fee discounts and appealed to parents to support their children's schools.

“Non-payment of fees by pupils, the provision of discounts, and uncertainties regarding new enrolments and variable operational costs is putting tremendous pressure on schools that can affect operational continuity," she said last week.

Primera Liga fixtures (all times UAE: 4 GMT)

Friday
Real Sociedad v Villarreal (10.15pm)
Real Betis v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Barcelona (8.15pm)
Levante v Deportivo La Coruna (10.15pm)
Girona v Malaga (10.15pm)
Las Palmas v Atletico Madrid (12.15am)
Sunday
Espanyol v Leganes (8.15pm)
Eibar v Athletic Bilbao (8.15pm)
Getafe v Sevilla (10.15pm)
Real Madrid v Valencia (10.15pm)

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)

Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports

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Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
​​​​​​​Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km

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Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

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Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre

Transmission: Seven-speed auto

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• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.

• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.

• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.

2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.

• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases -  but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.

Changing visa rules

For decades the UAE has granted two and three year visas to foreign workers, tied to their current employer. Now that's changing.

Last year, the UAE cabinet also approved providing 10-year visas to foreigners with investments in the UAE of at least Dh10 million, if non-real estate assets account for at least 60 per cent of the total. Investors can bring their spouses and children into the country.

It also approved five-year residency to owners of UAE real estate worth at least 5 million dirhams.

The government also said that leading academics, medical doctors, scientists, engineers and star students would be eligible for similar long-term visas, without the need for financial investments in the country.

The first batch - 20 finalists for the Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Distinction.- were awarded in January and more are expected to follow.

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

Tips for job-seekers
  • Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
  • Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.

David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

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