Dubai Schools relax payment plan in the wake of credit crunch

While schools like Dubai Modern High School are hiking their tuition fees to more than 90% fees in a session, there are some schools in Dubai who are relaxing payment plans for parents effected by recession and credit crunch.

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

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

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. Thirty pupils from Dubai International Academy in Emirates Hills have left since November as a result of pupils returning to their home country.

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).