Parents of students in the third cycle complained about the high fees for books and international tests for the end of the year, in light of some schools obliging them to pay the fees at a maximum during the current month of February, and informing them of this only about 20 days in advance. This puts them under financial pressure, while the director of a private school that follows the British curriculum in Sharjah confirmed that international curriculum books are imported from abroad, and have witnessed an increase during the recent period, while exam fees depend on the subjects, as fees are determined for each subject separately, and Send them all to Britain, and this is a main condition for taking the exam.
In detail, Susan Ahmed’s guardian said that the fees for international examinations for the British curriculum witnessed a noticeable increase during the current year, reaching from 800 to 900 dirhams per subject, while the school requires us to pay within only 20 days of informing us of the deadline for payment, which puts us under… The financial pressures, in addition to the high fees for books for the international curriculum, are added to the school’s annual fees, while we receive some of them in photocopies and not the originals.
Mustafa Jamal’s guardian confirmed that he has two sons, one in the 11th grade and the other in the 12th grade, and the school obligated him to pay the international exam fees at a maximum during the month of February, while he was informed of this only 20 days ago, which put him under enormous financial pressure. He added that the school told us that exam fees could not be refunded if we wanted to postpone a subject for the following year, but the school required him to buy the books, which he was surprised to find were copies and not original, despite paying high fees for them.
For her part, Hind Khaled, the mother of a daughter in the thirteenth grade with a British curriculum, and a son in the seventh grade, said that she was surprised that the school obliged her to pay the fees for international exams as soon as possible, which have become expensive this year, in addition to the fact that when a student fails a subject, he must pay again. The same fee again for taking the exam, confirming that the matter has become a burden on the family. She added: “What is also strange is that the school collects a fee of 50 dirhams for the Arabic language exams for the lower levels in which my second son is studying, without us knowing the reason for that.”
In turn, Amin Al-Nazami, a member of the board of directors of an educational institution that follows the British curriculum in Sharjah, confirmed that the books for grades 11 and 12 are considered the same and do not change, but their value increases. For example, the European Union paid 100 million euros to amend the biology textbook. Books are distributed throughout the world, and then they are imported and customs are paid for them, which have witnessed an increase recently. Al-Nazami told Al-Emarat Al-Youm, “External books are always more expensive than books inside the school. A book that costs 80 dirhams in school costs 140 abroad, and therefore it is better to buy books from inside the school.”
He stated that “examination fees are fixed, and are sent by transfer in the student’s name,” pointing out that a student who does not pay the fees will not be able to take the exams.
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