Some 27,000 children are being educated at evening or charity schools in the UAE as parents cannot afford costly private school fees, it has been reported.
According to a report in the National on Saturday, one in seven children attend afternoon or evening classes, the latest figures from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) reveal.
A further 1,300 children are on waiting lists to get into classes at charity schools, which offer classes for those who cannot afford daytime private education.
Charity schools charge about AED4,000 ($1,100) a year in fees – a much cheaper option compared to private schools which charge several times that amount.
“The numbers have increased because of the economic state of the parents,” said Mohammed Robin Edris, the general director of National Charity Schools (NCS), told the paper. “Many of them have decreased salaries, and many lost their jobs.”
He told the paper at least 800 new children enrolled in the NCS’ three Arabic-language schools in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman at the start of the new academic year.
“We need another school in Sharjah,” Edris told the paper. “I have about 40 buses carrying students from Dubai to Sharjah and Ajman.”
Follow us on
