There can’t be a parent in the country who doesn’t want to give their children the best start in life. That means the best education. Of course, the best education means the best schools. And that, for many parents, is where their problems begin.
Finding the best school is a complicated business – location and the availability of places, just two of the many factors that have to be taken into consideration – made more so by the dramatic rise in tuition fees at private schools in the past couple of years. Some parents, because of the higher and higher charges that schools are imposing, have had to change their plans and put their children into public schools, or schools that are not known to be of good quality but have lower tuition fees.
In this, parents have only a limited choice. Tuition fees make up the bulk of school expenses, and if they insist on putting their children into schools that they cannot really afford, other necessities of life naturally suffer. The situation in the UAE has become quite alarming in recent years. Tuition fees increase on an annual basis, yet parents see few if any improvements in the quality of education or the facilities provided.
Everyone accepts that schools have to charge for the services they provide. Faculty and staff wages, maintenance, buildings and equipment; all have to come out of tuition fees, and without the proper funds, a school would not be able to function adequately. Yet it is common now to hear parents complaining that they are being asked to pay extra, but they are not seeing any differences within the schools.
Everyone is feeling the effects of inflation. Parents are presented with all kinds of expenses that only seem to increase every month: household and medical costs, gas prices, food bills. Everything is expensive, so it is painful for them to spend their money on something that they feel is below standard. They especially do not like to see their money go to waste and their children not receive the quality of education they deserve and which has been paid for.
The Government and the bodies that supervise and accredit schools should not let either individuals or companies make excess profits out of parents. If there are ways of reducing the cost of education and general school expenses, they should be implemented. Ultimately, unless some kind of action on these lines is taken, more parents will be forced to take their children out of expensive private schools and into state-funded education. This will obviously have consequences for the public schools, which risk becoming overcrowded, with the effect that children’s education will suffer even more.
It is unquestionably true that the inflation that is hitting parents is also having an impact on schools. They have to pay higher energy costs; their staff need higher wages to help them cope with the rocketing costs of rents and food, while the price of land and the cost of building new premises is rising rapidly.
Given all this, it is expected that tuition fees would rise. However, the great suspicion among many parents is that the companies that operate the schools are using inflation as a smokescreen for simple profiteering. There are few new buildings to be seen; teachers complain that they are not receiving wage rises and are struggling to pay for their food and accommodation. So where is the money from the extra fees going? The schools need to do some explaining.
The hardship being caused by the tuition fee hike in the UAE also needs to be recognised by the Government and the other official education bodies. At first sight, it might seem a fairly trivial problem compared to many other national issues, but the Government should realise that nothing less than the future of its citizens, who are its number one resource, is at stake. The Government must ensure that its rules limiting the rise in tuition fees are being observed, or it risks harming the education of its most precious commodity — its youth.
Dr Salem Humaid is an Emirati writer and researcher in cultural and anthropological studies based in Dubai
Salem Humaid