Fee increases approved at 117 Dubai private schools

The Regent International School in the Greens, Dubai, where fees will rise again this year. Antonie Robertson / The National

DUBAI / / Tuition fee increases have been approved at 117 private schools for the next academic year.

Fees can be raised by between 2.92 and 5.84 per cent after the decision by Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority.

Parents say they are reassessing whether they can afford to live in Dubai after the rises were announced.

Briton Louise Conroy has decided to move back to the UK. Her daughter Scarlett, 6, goes to Regent International School in The Greens, which will raise fees by Dh6,000 this year on top of a Dh7,000 increase last year, Mrs Conroy said.

“I’m horrified by the continual increase in school fees across the region,” she said. “I am not seeing the educational quality of my child increasing, or continuity of teaching.”

Fees are among the highest in the region. A study last year showed fees for top British-curriculum schools in Dubai were up to US$23,100 (Dh85,000) a year, the highest in the GCC.

US curriculum school fees were up to $17,700.

“Schools are run as businesses, rather than educational institutions,” Mrs Conroy said. “I am going to go back to the UK because, in terms of value, I would get much more there.

“Class sizes are increasing and fees are going up here. I have spoken with parents at the Wellington School and it’s the same there.”

Indian businessman Sudhir Baba has a daughter in Grade 7 at Sabari Indian School in Deira.

“I don’t understand why they have to keep increasing the fees every year,” he said. “The cost of living is much higher, rents are much higher but salaries aren’t going up.

“How do they expect parents to keep paying for increases? It’s getting to the point where we might have to leave because it’s so expensive.”

Another British mother, whose two boys attend an English-curriculum school in Dubai, said the fee increases were unjustified.

“We’re paying about Dh80,000 each year for both of them combined and it’s getting to the stage that we will have to seriously reconsider whether we can afford to stay in Dubai,” the mother said.

“I don’t know why schools think they can continuously increase their fees year after year, because we certainly don’t gets pay rises year on year.”

Despite parents’ frustrations, principals say fee increases are needed to attract the best staff and improve facilities.

“My main aim as a principal of a school is to provide the best possible education for our children,” said Andy Wood, principal of Greenfield Community School in Dubai Investments Park.

“But to do that we have to be competitive and offer the best packages for staff, not only to keep them but to also attract the most qualified.”

Greenfield has been rated as “good” in the past two KHDA inspections and will increase its fees by about 4.5 per cent.

Its current fees are between Dh37,878 for KG1 pupils and Dh69,754 for Grades 11 and 12.

“We have plans to spend around Dh3 million this year to upgrade our sports gymnasium and relay the AstroTurf for the sports field, and that doesn’t come cheap,” Mr Wood said.

School fees in Dubai are based on the Education Cost Index provided by Dubai Statistics Centre each year.

The index is calculated taking into account factors including the consumer price index and school operating costs, such as rent, utilities and salaries. This year it was set at 2.92 per cent.

Schools rated “outstanding” can increase fees by 5.84 per cent; “good” schools by 4.38; and “acceptable” and “unsatisfactory” by 2.92.

Clive Pierrepont is the director of communication for Taaleem, an education provider that runs 11 schools in Dubai.

“The quality of any school never exceeds the quality of its teachers, Mr Pierrepont said. “To employ the very top teaching talent, we have to offer highly competitive rates of pay, plus benefits.

“About 70 per cent of our schools’ budget is usually allocated to staffing. Costs rise steeply each year, on average between 5 to 10 per cent.”

But as school fees and cost of living continue to rise, the wider jobs market could be affected.

Bre Hill, regional human resources manager at MediaCom in Dubai, said: “A considerable majority of our staff have young families and increasing school fees puts pressure on family finances.

“Constant recruitment is expensive and best avoided by retaining talented staff. If school fees continue to increase exponentially it could put pressure on many businesses.”

* Additional reporting by Nick Webster