Dubai school fees to be frozen for 2013/14

There will be no school fee increases for the 2013/14 academic year, Dubai's Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has revealed.

The announcement comes in line with the release of the annual Education Cost Index (ECI), calculated by the Dubai Statistics Centre at -1 percent.

ECI is affected by the consumer price index and specifically addresses the costs of running a school, including salaries, rent, and utilities.

The KHDA said the ECI of -1 percent means that fees will remain unchanged for the 2013/14 academic year.

Mohammed Darwish, chief of KHDA's Regulations and Compliance Commission, said: "We are sending communications about the ECI and its implications to all private schools in Dubai, to ensure they are understood clearly. We urge schools to also share this information with parents."

Under the School Fees Framework released by KHDA in 2012, schools are entitled to increase fees depending on their inspection results and ECI.

Schools given an 'outstanding' rating from Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB) are able to increase fees at double the rate of ECI, those with a 'good' rating by one and half times, and schools rated 'acceptable' and 'unsatisfactory' can increase their fees at the rate of ECI.

The framework, which allows exemptions to be granted to 'good' and 'outstanding' not-for-profit or embassy schools, was developed in cooperation with Department of Economic Development, Department of Finance, Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Dubai Real Estate Corporation, Dubai Statistics Centre and KHDA, and endorsed by The Executive Council in Dubai.