A recent study has shown that sending a child to school in the UAE from primary to the university costs parents around Dh365,000, one of the highest in the world.
This, according to data released by HSBC’s The Value of Education, which was based on a survey of over 8,400 parents in 15 countries and territories.
To this end, Filipino expats sending their children to UAE schools tell The Filipino Times they often resort to adjusting budget for their children’s education needs.
Alma Silab, a stay-at-home mother of two, said she and her husband, a mechanical engineer, have to make some adjustments with the family budget as their children’s school has increased tuition this year by Dh500.
“It’s really getting heavy on our budget, to be honest, as we have two school children,” she said. Here’s how a breakdown of their expenses goes: Dh7,990.00 for each kid, plus school bus fee at Dh4500 each, plus books and notebooks, a set school uniforms each – all in all costing Dhs12,500 per year for each kid.
“Weekly projects and other activities are additional expenses for us,” said Silab, whose children are in grades 2 and 3.
“I think if we parents have the option not to get school uniforms and school supplies from the school, we will be able to save a little. As far as I have noticed from our previous years’ experience, the prices of the items sold at school are very high but the quality was not justifiable,” she added.
Michelle Catacutan, 35, who works as an associate manager at a real estate company in Dubai, have three school children studying at a private school with a British curriculum.
She and her husband, an audit principal at an international accounting firm, are paying about Dh22,000 for each of their children for one school year. The Catacutans said they don’t mind so long as they get their money’s worth.
“Our children take advantage of the British curriculum which is highly regarded globally. They interact with children and teachers of different nationalities. The school is very competitive and is actively participating in competitions both in academics and extra-curricular. The students have won a lot of awards and recognition. The students in the school have obtained very high scores in international bench marking exams,” said Catacutan.
Abigail Caindoy, also a stay-at-home mom, is likewise satisfied with what her children get from their schools. She shelled out Dh9,360 for her eldest son this school year and Dh15,847, for her youngest, who studies at another school. Both schools effected increase this year.
“Yes, a minimal increase. But I believe my kids school fees are reasonable and within a justifiable reason why,” said Caindoy.” As to uniforms, I am ok with purchasing it from the school. I am assured that it follows the correct school uniform guidelines.”
On the other hand, Melyn Albarracin, an entrepreneur banker and her banker husband, have reservations.
“The tuition is quite high especially at her level. We’re paying around Dh16,000 all in all this year, without the transport. The school increased their fees as they got good rating from KHDA last year,” she said.
Albarracin added although she is willing to purchase the school uniform and some school supplies from the school, she also wants to get her money’s worth.
“It would have been fine to get the school uniforms and other school stuff from them for convenience but at least, they should consider the quality according to its price. I believe they priced it too high and not worth their quality,” she pointed out.
For financial and investment advisor, Samirah N., her child’s school fees this school year has affected the family budget, she said.
“School fees have gone up 4 percent this year which has extremely impacted our budget. Their annual fee is about Dh19,000. I always believed that school fees in the UAE is expensive, a tuition for an FS1 student here can actually send someone to college back home,” she said.
She added that she chooses to buy her child’s school uniforms from the school. She said, “I am comfortable with purchasing school uniforms from the school, though the prices are high but it’s convenient, organized and easily accessible to us.”
