Dubai Modern High School will not be allowed to raise its fees as much as it has planned, officials say.
Global Education Management Systems (Gems), which runs the school, asked the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) two years ago for permission to raise its fees to cover the costs of moving to a new building.
The alternative, closing the school, was “very much a part of the discussion” with the KHDA, said Dino Varkey, senior director of business development at Gems.
Gems informed parents at the school on Jan 22 that fees would go up by what amounted to 110 per cent over two years.
Mr Varkey said the company was given permission to raise fees by 45 per cent in the first year and 45 per cent in the second year, followed by a two-year fee cap.
Officials at the KHDA, the government agency that regulates Dubai school fees, said a 110 per cent increase was never authorised. They maintain that they approved an increase of 90 per cent over two years.
Mohammed Darwish, chief of licensing and customer relations at the KHDA, announced yesterday that Gems would have to reduce the fee increase it had announced.
“They will be able to charge parents only 45 per cent of the increase in the first year and the remainder of the increase in the second year, adding up to 90 per cent,” Mr Darwish said.
However, Gems yesterday said it did have permission for the higher fee increase.
“Gems first discussed with KHDA the fee implications of the feasibility study into the replacement of the Dubai Modern High building nearly two years ago. After discussion, KHDA said that fees could increase by 45 per cent in the first year and 31 per cent in the second,” Mr Varkey said.
“This threatened the financial viability of the project and therefore, after further discussion with KHDA, we were given written approval for a fee increase of 45 per cent in the first year of operation in the new building and 45 per cent in the second year. We based the development of the new school on those figures.”
The KHDA also announced that Gems would not be permitted to start charging new fees until the school has moved to its new campus, which is still under construction.
Kathryn Lewis