Parents push for fee increase to keep school open

And they’ve started to lobby the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) to allow the higher fees against its normal policy.

 

The school told the parents that its primary phase will be closed on June 30, 2014 through a mass email earlier this week.

 

“The reasons that have been given are purely business,” it said. “Basically the primary section of The English College has been making a loss which cannot be sustained. KHDA, who control the fees in all private schools in Dubai, has refused permission to raise our fees.”

The secondary section of the school will remain unaffected.

 

In an attempt to push KHDA to make an exception for a 20 per cent fee increase, the parents sent the authority more than 250 signed letters supporting the increase. Parents said that they do not mind the increase because if they were to go to any other school that offers the same level of education, they would pay the increase anyway. So, they say, why not stay at a school that they are already familiar with and have already established relationships in.

 

Explaining the series of events that led to the decision of closure, the principal of the primary school, William Johnston, told Gulf News that he too was surprised when he found out that the school was closing.

 

“The news came out of nowhere,” he said. “We originally set low fees when we opened in 2004 in order to attract students to join. KHDA then took over and put caps on the fees so we have never been able to reach the same fees that other schools charge ever since.”

 

The primary section fees of the English College range from Dh23,600 per year for KG 1 to Dh29,093 for grade 6. The KHDA’s fee structure depends on the school’s ranking. The higher the ranking the more fee increase the school is entitled to.

 

The English College which has a ‘good’ ranking is allowed an increase of 4.5 per cent which, according to the school, given the already low fees, is not enough for it to compete with other schools.

 

“The school’s board members approached KHDA with the request for the 20 per cent fee increase; however, the KHDA stuck with their fee structure. The owners of the school then had to resort to closure which the KHDA approved. It is now in the parents’ hands, no one is a better advocate than they are.”

 

Johnston added that the school currently has 400 pupils in the primary section who will have to find other seats. There are also a total of 40 staff members who will lose their jobs if the school closes. The intention for the building is to remain as is. “This is a great school that is worth fighting for. Everyone, staff, students and parents are desperate for it to remain open.”

 

Gulf News contacted KHDA but it did not comment before press deadline.

 

Not taking no for an answer, the parents organised a meeting to discuss how they can convince the KHDA to accept a 20 per cent increase in order to save the school from closing.

 

Lucy Kidd, who is British and has two children at the school, told Gulf News that parents have written letters to give to the KHDA in the hope of convincing it to allow the increase.

 

“I have more that 250 signed letters by parents who support the fee increase which I delivered to the KHDA on Wednesday. We are fighting for the school because we love its small community feeling over huge campuses that other schools have.”

Indian national Dee Menezes, a mother of one child affected by the closure, believes that there should be moral accountability.

 

“How can a school like this one shut down?,” she asked. “It is our children’s life — there should be moral accountability. I don’t mind the fee increase because we chose this school because it is a good one, not because it is cheap.”

British national Linda Shevlin who has two children in primary section said that receiving the news was like an out-of-body experience.

 

“The KHDA told us that by law there will be seats available for our students,” she said. “We don’t know what schools these seats will be available in. Also, I have one child in the secondary section so I will have to make two different trips to pick up my children.”

 

Read more: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/education/parents-push-for-fee-increase-to-keep-school-open-1.1257585