Private schools in Abu Dhabi announced the opening of registration and receiving applications for new students for the next academic year in various grades, and schools resorted to publishing advertisements on various means to attract students, due to the low turnout, especially for schools with high fees. Registration in schools includes the signature of the guardian’s approval of the expected increase in tuition fees for the next year.
Parents confirmed that they had received letters from private schools announcing the opening of registration and acceptance of transfers in all classes, and the schools listed in advertisements and promotional messages the advantages of joining them, which included modern buildings, teaching staff from English-speaking countries, and a discount for siblings, in addition to emphasizing their excellence in Offer distance education.
Administrators in private schools: Randa Al-Shami, Mayar Eid, Walid Siyam, and Muhammad Abboud attributed that most private schools have vacancies, as a result of the poor demand of parents to register their children in kindergartens for the current school year, for fear of Corona, which extended This year, most schools suffer from low turnout, unlike in previous years.
They pointed out that the annual transfer of a number of private school students to public schools, in addition to the challenges of Corona, which imposed on some people to transfer their children to low-fee schools or return to their countries, contributed to pushing schools to search for additional ways to encourage students’ families to register Their children out.
They pointed out that schools aim, from their advertising campaigns, to ensure that vacancies are accommodated before the start of the new school year, in order for them to determine their operational plan for the next year, and other organizational matters, noting that the number of vacant seats in any school will increase to 5% of the total The seats expose the school to significant financial losses.
While the families of students explained that they had signed the application to register their children in schools that the tuition fees could be increased in the event that the school obtained a permit for this, and that the guardian was then required to pay the difference, and the parents of students indicated that they received letters from the administrations of their children’s schools, when confirming their registration in the year Next to the higher grades, you inform them of a possible tuition increase.
Relatives of students: Muhammad Mansour, Ahmed Essam, Radwa Abed, and Mahitab Muhammad stressed that there is no justification for private schools seeking to increase their fees, especially in light of the continuing Corona pandemic, and the resulting challenges that faced many families, in addition to implementing education about After, for most of the school year, the operating expenses of schools have decreased, indicating that the continuous increases in fees have brought the education bill to an exaggerated degree; Especially since the matter is not related to the schools ’desire to increase the fees for the next year, but rather to the successive increases that would have strained parents financially.
They emphasized that tuition fees now constitute a large share of the incomes of citizens and residents. Which became the subject of complaints of many students’ families annually.
The relatives of students: Muhammad Arafa, Maram Saeed, Salma Al-Shannaq, Abdullah Hassan, Zainab Khalaf and Alia Massad indicated that the problem of tuition fees in private schools has become recurring every year, and this forces officials in the Department of Education and Knowledge to devise a solution for that, and that The fees for all private schools are reviewed, and the new increases required by the school are studied, and the fees for each school are reviewed annually and compared to its academic level, educational outputs and its position on the school inspection program, and for schools to be required to reduce their fees to match their level, indicating that they should be issued with decisions to increase fees. Second schools decisions to reduce fees for other schools.
They emphasized that the approaching school year has become an obsession for every family about the inability to provide for their children’s academic needs, especially that educational needs are no longer limited to fees only, but also extend to private lessons, which have turned into a parallel educational system that no home is without.
They demanded to reconsider the fees of “some private schools”, especially since some of them were turned into investment projects aimed at financial profit at the expense of students and their families.
On the other hand, the Department of Education and Knowledge affirmed that it takes into account, when evaluating the appropriateness of school fees, four basic aspects, which include: providing the necessary information in full, including providing a full financial study using the financial form issued by the department for this purpose, and comparing school fees with school fees of similar quality. And similar curricula to it, taking into account the assessment of the school’s general effectiveness in the most recent evaluation report, and the cost of school facilities and services, in addition to making sure that no fees are set that enable the school to achieve excessive profits so that the commercial interest prevails over the quality of education.
In the Private Schools Policies Manual, the department indicated that the school must obtain the department’s approval of school fees, payment schedules, and payment procedures, before announcing them to parents, and before collecting them.
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Private schools in Abu Dhabi hung banners on their doors, announcing the opening of registration for the academic year 2021-2022, and “Emirates Today” also monitored funded ads on social media, through which schools promote the advantages of education in them, and encourage students’ families to register their children.
• Students who complain about raising the tuition fees annually.
• “Education and Knowledge”: The school must obtain the department’s approval for its fees.
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