DUBAI: The total cost of sending a child to school in the UAE and on to university overseas can add up to nearly Dh1.5m for expatriate parents, according to a new study.
Parents generally spend as much as Dh562,543 in school fees alone by sending their children to a UK or US curriculum school from the age of five to 18 – averaging out at about Dh43,272 a year, The National quoted the asset management company Old Mutual International, which makes its money by selling investment products to savers.
Adding in money for extras such as trips, bus services and uniforms, which Old Mutual calculated as another Dh15,684 each year from primary through to high school, brought the total cost of school education to about Dh766,437, the report said.
And although the costs of a university education differ widely depending on where they are located and which course is studied, Old Mutual reportedly estimated that a four-year course at a university in the United States plus living expenses could set students back another Dh681,124 in total.
Last month, rival financial services firm Zurich Life conducted a similar study in the UAE in which it estimated that the total cost of education covering 14 years, including pre-school, primary, secondary school and university, totalled Dh933,945, said the news portal.
These included upfront preschool fees of Dh58,693, followed by six years of primary school education at Dh35,230 a year totalling Dh211,382. By the time a child reaches secondary school, Zurich calculated that annual fees went up to about Dh43,052, totalling Dh258,315 for the six years of school. It calculated that university fees in the US cost another Dh84,428 a year for three years, while living costs could reach Dh234,551 per student, the report pointed out.
In Abu Dhabi, fees for British and American curriculum schools range from Dh23,000 to Dh43,600 a year at Glenelg School Abu Dhabi to between Dh65,000 and Dh96,333 at Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, reported The National.
In Dubai, fees for British or American curriculum schools range from Dh10,270 to Dh21,660 at Al Diyafah High School to between Dh50,379 and Dh100,759 at Repton School Dubai, the report said.
