A school group in Dubai has decided not to raise school fees for the new academic year. This comes even as private schools in Dubai have been allowed to increase their fees by up to 5.2 per cent, depending on how they fared in the latest annual inspections.
Dubai's education regulator, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) on Tuesday announced an Education Cost Index (ECI) of 2.6 per cent, based on which schools can adjust their fees for the 2024-25 academic year.
In a statement to Khaleej Times, Punit MK Vasu, CEO, The Indian High Group of Schools, highlighted the reasons for not increasing school fees for the second time in a row.
“The KHDA has permitted our not-for-profit group of schools to apply for a fee adjustment outside and higher than the rate eligibility scale, depending on the needs of our group. We are delighted to announce that despite the ever-increasing operational costs, current rates of inflation that are at a record-high across the globe, and the permission from KHDA to increase fees beyond the normal scale, we have chosen yet again not to increase tuition fees for the academic year 2024-2025.”
Vasu added, “We are exactly as we did last year choosing to keep school tuition fees as is and maintaining the status quo.”
Financial challenges faced by parents
The CEO of the school group reiterated that as a community group of schools, they empathise with the financial challenges that some parents face.
“We believe that the savings from not having a fee increase will give our parents the choice and freedom to pick and choose other areas of prioritized spending for their learners. We strongly believe it is imperative to support all our stakeholders in ensuring they have continual access to world class learning without having to face the added pressure of an increase in tuition fees,” he added.
Meanwhile, the group assured that they will continue to make considerable investments in technology and learning tools to further enhance effective teaching-learning methodologies alongside introducing new incentives that are anticipated to benefit their staff.
“An expanded and upgraded fleet of buses is a highlight of the infrastructure provisions for the new academic year. We will continue to aggressively upgrade buildings, furniture, fixtures, equipment and infrastructure across all three campuses with a well thought out expansion and refurbishment plan. We have in place a robust system of performance-based appraisal programmes with a large number of incentives for increased staff happiness and wellbeing.”
They emphasised that the parent community will stand to gain from this decision as the school opts not to implement a justified increase in school fees.
“Remarkably, we continue to defy inflation and the significant increase in costs we have seen in remuneration levels, rentals, fuel, utilities and other costs across various sectors and commodities in recent times. We hope this inspires others towards operating effectively without passing on the burden of fee increases to their students and are also willing to help collaborate with other schools to help achieve this goal,” added Vasu.