Education officials explain high school fees in Dubai

DUBAI // New schools are forbidden from increasing their fees during the first three years of operation – or longer, if they fail inspections – leading to higher rates from the start.

“When you price a school opening in Dubai, you are pricing yourself sort of ahead of the market,” said Daniel Lewis, principal of North London Collegiate School Dubai, which will charge some of the highest fees in the country when it opens to students in September.

The fees at NLCS Dubai, excluding transportation and uniforms, will range from Dh83,000 for pupils in pre-kindergarten to Dh130,000 for pupils in Grade 12.

But the premium private school is not isolated in charging these high-end prices. Two of the schools Bloom Education will open for the 2018-2019 academic year – Brighton College Dubai and Dwight School – also carry fees between Dh107,000 an Dh130,000 for final year pupils, respectively.

“One has to look of course, how much does the school cost to build – the land and location and so on and so forth,” said Henning Fries, chief executive of Bloom Education.

“Then we are also looking at, most importantly, the operating expenses. We deal with excellent ratios of teacher-students. In terms of our selection, the types of teachers that we attract have top international experience. That is really where most of the expenses sit in the school.”

Bassam Abushakra, regional director for Esol Education, which operates American private schools in the Middle East and Asia, said staff salaries account for most of the cost.

“Almost 70 per cent of the fees goes toward staff salaries, and recruiting internationally, especially for American schools, the supply of teachers is not that high, so you’ve got to be paying competitive salaries,” said Mr Abushakra.

The high cost of living in the UAE also plays a factor, he said.

“There is no income tax here, but the cost of living in Dubai is not cheap and campuses are all state of the art, so they cost a lot,” said Mr Abushakra. “I’ve never seen a city with so many beautiful campuses and then the staffing ratios tend to be generous.”

He predicted that reported cutbacks to education allowances would not have a significant impact on the business, although he estimated that 25 to 30 per cent of pupils’ tuition fees are paid directly by their parents’ employer.

In recent years, a growing number of private schools in Dubai have been charging tuition fees near or in excess of Dh100,000 annually.

Of the 124 schools that qualified to increase their fees, 10 are charging tuition higher than Dh90,000 for the final grades, for example.

These include Foremarke School, Gems Wellington Academy – Al Khail, Gems Wellington International School, Gems World Academy, Horizon International School, Kings School Al Barsha, Regent International Private School, Repton School, Swiss International Scientific School and Sunmarke School Dubai, according to data compiled by WhichSchoolAdvisor.

Mr Abushakra said he does not believe there is “that much demand” for Dh100,000-plus schools.

The tuition for Esol’s newest American school has yet to be finalised, but it will likely be around Dh75,000.

He also acknowledged that companies in expat markets are cutting benefits like education.

“We see it in Hong Kong, we see it everywhere,” he said.

A majority of pupils enroled in Dubai private schools, 57.5 per cent, attend schools that cost Dh20,000 or less in annual tuition fees, according to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority.