Dubai schools cost more than UK universities

Omar Thursday, 24 January 2013 2:47 PM - Emirates

It is really bad that we have to struggle very hard to pay fees as students and yet the Dubai government can do something.. Am very disappointed myself

Peter P Wednesday, 23 January 2013 2:13 PM - Belgium

The school system has been an issue for several years - and still no light in the tunnel. The quality of education, high turnover of teachers and ridiculous fees will not only have impact on the expact families but the country itself while trying to attract the top talents of expat work force. The government needs to set this on the top priority list in order stay as a competitive and attractive destination for the future expats prior the "education bubble" bursts. After all, there are a plenty of destination choices with top education systems competing on the same expat work force.

DxbParent Wednesday, 23 January 2013 1:05 PM - UAE

Navin, it's an interesting point. However, I would have preferred the Indian curriculum for my child, we did the research. When we called schools they asked if my child is Indian, and when we said he is not, he is European, they refused us.

Frank Wednesday, 23 January 2013 1:03 PM - Dubai

Here is one for the books, a friend of mine who works at the school my daughter goes to called me yesterday to say that I should fill in the KHDA SURVEY, which I did. When I called her back to say I had completed it, she said, that the staff were called into a meeting in the morning by the Owner to say she is striving to get a OUTSTANDING so she can increase fees. One of the teachers asked why....her answer was....I have just had some extra buildings built on the campus.....SERIOUSLY!!!!! Now one can ask how she thinks that should get her an OUTSTANDING mark!!! In order for her to increase the fees. I struggle to understand the logic. Yet there is continuous stories of bullying in the school that they don't address!

TMO Wednesday, 23 January 2013 12:40 PM - Dubai

We need to have new schools set up under the patronage of respective embassies, community groups. Need to study the current regulations by the govt. / KHDA regarding the setup and function of such an entity. I request Arabian Business to investigate the modalities and regulations in place. If the law permits let us run a campaign to see if all of us who just speak on these issues like to invest / capitalize their educational expenses. I am sure there are lots of parents or individuals including myself who are willing to contribute in establishing such educational venture. After all educating our children is an investment, for the long term benefit of the society and economy of the country. Once such schools comes up in which the parents as stake holders have their say, then we can see the chocolate schools start to melt.

Telcoguy Sunday, 27 January 2013 3:11 PM - UAE

@Hisham, regarding your reply to Andy, I think you are spot on. Plenty of expats embrace a lifestyle that is a financial suicide. I know first hand several situation where people have been working here (six figures salaries, USD) and gone back with nothing to show. People buy into a mirage (the Dubai lifestyle, the real estate) and in the end they end up returning empty-handed. I agree it is their choice and they bear the ultimate responsibility, but as Mike points (see below) the system is clearly geared towards that outcome. In that light poor quality of education I think is more of a symptom of the values and priorities of many people here
Regarding Mike I think you may have misread the posts. Actually Mike is the one advising not to interfere, he is just stating the facts, about the short-term, transient nature of the expats here. At no point he is advocating a change, nor involving the local population, just stating the facts. I think your reply also supports his view

Hisham Sunday, 27 January 2013 12:34 PM - UAE

@Mike what has me wondering, is whether you came to the region through some sort of an intergalactic time slot. Are you stuck here until several moons line up? Because the way I see it, the door that brought you here is still open for you to go back if anything about the region, it's people and it's lifestyle goes against your morals... Some nerve to come somewhere and discriminate against a country's own people!

Telcoguy Thursday, 24 January 2013 2:52 PM - UAE

@mike, yes. You are 100% right and it has been clearly explained in this website quite a few times
Funnily lot of people refuse to accept that
@TMO I suggest you educate your kids at home. It does not matter where you are from, you will get a much better quality for the money either in India, UK, South Africa or Germany
@rest, please read Mike's reply carefully. You are told time after time that you should have no long-term plans here, why should the UAE government care about the future of your children. It is not a rational use of their resources, you can not expect other people to be altruistic when you are here just for profit maximization, it is simply inconsistent

Mike DeLonghi Wednesday, 23 January 2013 3:32 PM - Saudi Arabia

TMO. You make sense albeit your request is somewhat naive. The UAE does not want foreign influence through patronage from embassies/expat communities. They don't really want a sustainable education system for white collar expats, because we are supposed to be out of here in 3-4 years remember? The current money machines such as GEMS benefit local sponsors and local owners while ensuring a high turn over, simply because very, very few expats can see education costs through from kinder garden to college...and most will only stay here for a few years - so they won't mind so much being ripped off. And in many cases the company pays.
Take your shades, it's all part of the plan!

Levant Wednesday, 23 January 2013 12:37 PM - UAE

I think Dubai has a fundamental problem with its education system, if there is one! My son was educated in Syria until grade 11, when we moved to Dubai last year, he spent most of his class time sleeping, as he was bored with the subjects taught, which he informed me that he learned at grade 10 back home. His maths teacher complained to me about his sleeping and even snoring in class, but that he could not punish him since he was able to answer any question or solve any problems put to the class while my son was asleep. He graduated with a 86% marks and even obtained a scholarship to study at a prestigious British University.

As for fees, I find them ridiculously expensive. Just for comparison purposes, an international school based in Damascus charges the equivalent of AED 8,100 for grade 8 studen, while the Dubai based school charges around AED 18,000. And I know that teachers do not get housing allowance and the likes!

kshema Wednesday, 23 January 2013 11:11 AM - United Arab Emirates

education has become a mere joke in the UAE. i'm a parent with two children studying in a mid level british curriculum school based in dubai. annually i shell out 60k for both just for tuition and bus fee.any activity provided by the school is charged extra. my kids just attend the school and come back home cos the extra curricular activities they charge are high too.
the major problem i face is when i have to pay the term fees in advance for both my kids. i strongly feel that KHDA should give parents an option to pay fees on a monthly basis too cos no company pays the three months salary in advance.its been a constant struggle for parents like me with mid level salaries who pay from their own pockets to provide their kids quality education. wish khda would promote more schools like IHS and DPS in the UAE.

Mike DeLonghi Wednesday, 23 January 2013 9:34 AM - Saudi Arabia

Good point Navin, now what would be interesting to have Anil research how the teachers are paid at IHS/DPS versus teachers at e.g. GEMS. Also, one should compare the quality/cost of the buildings/facilities - at the end of the day these are the two main cost contributors for running a school. Having had children at Dubai American Academy, having engaged with teachers and 'enjoyed' the dismal buildings, I would argue that the GEMS provides very little value-add, well rather a mind boggling rip off.

We now have children i Private School in South Africa. Excellent quality for less than half of what we paid in Dubai. Good South African teachers at both places by the way :-)

Paolo C Wednesday, 23 January 2013 9:32 AM - Italy

Want to give an education? Well, some parents find it better to put money into their bank account rather then building a true world around their children. Dubai is not a place to grow children.

Navin Tuesday, 22 January 2013 10:18 PM - UAE

There are plenty of very good Indian schools like the IHS and DPS who provide decent schooling at under 12 K a year and their students make it to good universities in India UK and US, I personally do not understand this craze for "international" schools by so many Indian Expats unless off course they need to burn out company provided allowances!

Navin Saturday, 26 January 2013 11:06 AM - UAE

And you reiterated my point! If dad's mates get the jobs then why talk about the glories of school education? We are talking about non CEO kids here and kids vying to be CEO's themselves not CEO's kids who will in any case will benefit from thier fathers earlier hard work at fiercely competetive schools :)

amit Saturday, 26 January 2013 12:13 AM - usa

You just reiterated my point- Asian and Indian school focus on Math and Sciences and that's it. International schools with more subjects to choose from don't isolate children who don't have a head for those subjects and helps them nurture others. I worked at one of the companies you mentioned- nobody got ahead because they could multiply in seconds or speak several languages- soft skills like negotiations and personality got them ahead.

If your thinking is that math and science is the be all and end all for 16 years of education- I agree, Asian schools are ahead there. I believe there is more to school than crunching numbers.
To the private schools defense- The heads of those companies you bought up must send their kids to expensive private schools in dubai. When the time comes for your child to get a job, they probably will have to go through several rounds and psychometric tests like I did. The private school ones will just have to call their mates Dads and ask when they start.

Navin Friday, 25 January 2013 11:16 AM - UAE

@ Amit, When i hear Obama and the likes of Thomas Freidman telling American kids to study math in order to compete with Indian kids in Chennai and Bangalore then they must be doing something right there in those schools with no Planetariums and Dolby labs to send out kids to Pepsi, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, Vodafone and not necessarily NASA or some software company! and yes i do believe that i send my kids to school to get sound fundamentals in Math, Science and Language skills as well as memory training and to acquire a desire to compete and achieve. The basic point being that i don't mind paying $ 50K for top Indian US/UK universities as i know i am getting value for my hard earned money but not $20K to Schools in Dubai for teaching my kids Astronomy!

Amit Thursday, 24 January 2013 9:36 PM - Socal, U.S.A

International schools are fundamentally different from Indian and Asian schools in what and how they value their students. I should know- I was a product of both.

Asian schools and their syllabi focus more on quantitative scoring and place a higher value on Maths and sciences. Most performance is based on memorizing by rote or exams.

International schools focus more on entire curriculum, realizing that if your not going to be a software engineer or working at NASA, there are plenty of other things you are good at -they just have to find out what. This is the point where Asian schools whack you over the head and tell you that your life is over if Math and Science is not your forte.

To find those alternative routes you might take are expensive, so its understandable when schools charge more for certain activities like Astronomy or media production. Asian schools (except for Modern High) in Dubai charge a fraction because they don't see a need for those facilities and extra-ciriculars