Dubai, March 24, 2008 – A number of schools which are on Government land will have their land rents frozen for one year, in exchange for not raising their tuition fee for 2008/2009.
The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) and the Dubai Real Estate Corporation worked together extensively on the matter of stabilizing land rents for community-centred schools to preserve the service they provide to the community in the face of their particular economic challenges.
They have identified these schools by the following criteria:
- Those that have demonstrated a commitment to education in Dubai of greater than five years
- Those that provide a service to the lower-income community as evidenced by school fees of 5000AED or less on average
- Those that are located in a lower-income area of Dubai
- Land rent increase would exceed school’s budgetary capacity whereby increase would be likely to force either closure of school and/or inability of parents to pay fees
We have initially identified the following schools as within these criteria: Al Farooq Pakistani Islamic School; Al Ameen Private School; Al Thuraya Private School; Crescent English School; Grammar School; Buds Public School; Al Majd English School; Al Sadiq Islamic English School; and The Elite English School. The DREC has agreed that if KHDA certifies that the schools have indeed not raised their fees, the DREC will not raise the schools’ rent.
Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Chairman of the Board and Director General at KHDA, said: “We wanted to protect the pupils in these schools who would have been affected by land rent increases. By working closely together with our partners in the Dubai Real Estate Corporation, we have been able to establish a focused set of criteria that ensure the continued provision of learning to the community in the few long-standing institutions particularly impacted. We are particularly appreciative of DREC’s collaboration with us and their support.”
“The KHDA maintains relationships across all Government sectors to improve and secure the future of our schools. The healthy diversity of Dubai’s education providers is essential. As Dubai’s dynamic growth propels us all forward, we want to make sure everyone can come along with us.”
Hesham Al Qassim, CEO of Dubai Real Estate Corporation said “The cornerstone of Dubai strategy 2015 is to provide an environment conducive to growth and prosperity to all sectors; investments in education are one of its key components. As a leading asset management company, we would do our uttermost to help children and education. We strongly believe in supporting, every effort of the Dubai government to provide high quality affordable education for all segments of people in Dubai.”