Notices of an increase in school fees for the next academic year have started to be sent to some parents in Dubai schools.
International curricula schools will begin their academic year in September, while Indian schools began theirs in April.
Raising tuition fees
This comes after Dubai's private schools were permitted to raise their tuition by as much as 5.2%, contingent on their performance in the most recent yearly inspections.
Schools that saw a decline in their ratings were not permitted to request a fee increase.
Use the latest reviews
Notably, parents can use the Knowledge and Human Development Authority's (KHDA) most recent evaluations for inspected schools to make well-informed decisions about moving their kids to a new school.
Modification of tuition fees
The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), Dubai's education watchdog, announced in early April an Education Cost Index (ECI) of 2.6%, which would allow institutions to modify their tuition for the 2024–2025 academic year.
A few parents who have already started receiving these circulars were contacted by Khaleej Times.
Sajna Ali, an expat Indian, expressed concern about the rising expense of living, citing rising shopping bills and payments for extracurricular activities for kids. The increase in school fees is now an annual event as well. My kids' school sent out a notice today (Thursday) saying that "tuition fees will be approved to increase depending on inspection performance." The KHDA inspection has graded my children's school as "Good," therefore they can increase the tuition by 2.6%.
Raise the bar for education
it clarified that the cost comes to little over Dh1,300 annually for her two kids.
"The current per-child school fee is Dh27,231; it was previously Dh26,569. That's a Dh662 rise per child. However, I hope that teachers will receive a pay boost as a result of this increase. "I hope that this leads to an improvement in the quality of education as well," said Ali.
A copy of a circular outlining The Cambridge International School's parent communications was obtained by KT.
The letter said, "This adjustment will be effective from the start of the academic term and will be applicable to all years."
The letter also stated: "As always, we remain committed to providing our students with the best possible instruction and learning opportunities, which are primarily funded by your fees."
Schools are permitted to raise fees for the second year in a row this year, following three years of fee freezes (2020–21, 2021–22, and 2022–23) as a result of the Covid-19 epidemic. In 2023–2024, educational institutions were permitted to increase tuition by up to 6%.
Father of two children in Grades 11 and 6, Arindham Banerjee, stated: "I received notice of the school fee increase yesterday, Thursday." No matter how small the raise is, it still puts some strain on our family's budget. The rate of inflation is rising, and costs are increasing generally. Any fee rise is not welcome news for parents who are trying to balance the costs of raising two children with other financial obligations.
Notably, all tuition fees and expenses for services rendered by the institution are covered by this framework. However, services that are optional for parents and supplied by outside parties, such as those that the school outsources, are not covered by this framework.
Another parent, Fathimath Manal, whose children attend GEMS Our Own Indian School in Al Quoz and are parents of two children in Grades 5 and 2, respectively, stated: "The authorized increase in fees for our school amounts to 2.6 percent, translating to approximately Dh200 per child." Each youngster pays Dh20 a month for it. I'm glad our children attend a reasonably priced school. Actually, I feel relieved.
A few school inspection scores are available
in the meantime, parents who are thinking about moving their kids to a different school for the forthcoming school year can find some guidance in the KHDA's school ratings.
A small number of school ratings and inspections are still pending, nonetheless. The schools have received ratings of "outstanding," "very good," "good," "acceptable," or "weak" based on their performance.
It's important to note that a comprehensive report will be released later by the emirate's education regulator.
"The ratings for all schools that have been inspected this academic year are now available on the KHDA website," a KHDA representative said in a statement to Khaleej Times. By making the overall scores public, we intend to assist parents in planning for the upcoming academic year and in making decisions about their re-enrollment. After every school has finished its inspection, comprehensive inspection reports and parent summary reports will be made available.
This year, 199 schools have been inspected in total. Thus far, over twenty schools have received the highest rating of "Outstanding," 39 "Very Good," 84 "Good," and 55 "Acceptable."
This year, a number of schools have received the "Outstanding" rating, including Arabian Ranches, Dubai College, Jumeirah College, GEMS Modern Academy, Kings School Dubai, Dubai International Academy (DIA), Dubai English Speaking School (DESS), and Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS).
Several schools have received the 'Very Good' rating, including Regent International School Dubai, Delhi Private School Dubai, Gems Wellington Academy, Silicon Oasis, Gems World Academy Dubai, Sunmarke School Dubai, Credence High School, Dubai, and Repton Al Barsha.
