Schools relax payment plans amid credit crunch

The global financial crisis is forcing schools and nurseries in the UAE to relax their payment schemes as parents are struggling to make fee payments, schools have said.

Schools are assessing individual fees payments on a “case by case” basis for parents who have been made redundant, they said.

“Some of our parents are unfortunately experiencing financial difficulties. Our schools are very sympathetic to their plight,” said Clive Pierrepont, director of communications and marketing at Taaleem, which runs seven schools in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

He added individual cases would be dealt with on a case by case basis and urged parents struggling to make payments to contact schools as soon as possible.

“Our advice to parents is to inform their school of any worries as early as possible and keep communications open so that the concerned school can deal with difficulties on a case by case basis and work with parents towards a solution.”

Gems Education, which runs 26 schools across the UAE, said it cared about the families which use its schools and was rolling out a programme that will support those parents who have been affected by the changing economic climate.

"These parents will be considered on a case by case basis by a committee consisting of a head of school, a parent and a member of corporate office," said Sheetal Khullar, communications executive, GEMS Education.

On Thursday, hundreds of parents gathered outside GEMS' Dubai Modern High School to protest at a decision to raise school fees for the next academic year by more than 90 percent.

A number of schools have also noticed a drop off in attendance as parents, unable to afford school fees have decided to return to their home country. “A small percentage of students at Taaleem Schools have withdrawn due to the adverse economic climate,” said Pierrepont.

Thirty pupils from Dubai International Academy in Emirates Hills have left since November as a result of pupils returning to their home country, said Sheethal Govindan. “A lot of people from the Southern Hemisphere choose to move back to Australia or South Africa because the school year starts in December,” she said.

Louise, a single mother from the UK said her son’s school, a Dubai-based British curriculum school, had allowed her to pay a partial fee until she found a new job following her redundancy in December.

“I spoke to the headmaster who said I could pay a partial fee...according to the headmaster a lot of people had come into the school saying they had lost their jobs so the school was trying to be a bit more flexible regarding the school fees,” she said.

The rising cost of schooling has forced many expatriate parents in Dubai to send their children home for schooling, according to a Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry report released in October.

The report said secondary school fees increased by 25.2 percent in 2008, while primary school fees were 18.7 percent more expensive compared to the previous year.

The chamber estimated that school fees now range from 3,000 dirhams ($817) to 58,000 dirhams ($15,700).