Private schools in Dubai can increase fees upto 6% for academic year 2023-24

Mohammed Ibrahim, Staff Reporter

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) in Dubai revealed that it approved a three per cent increase in school fees for private schools for the academic year 2023-2024 based on a study of the economic and academic situation in the private school education system in the Emirate of Dubai.

The decision takes into account the interests of all concerned parties and ensures continued improvement of the quality and sustainability of education in all educational curricula applied in private schools in Dubai.

According to Dubai’s School Fees Framework, a private school that improves its rating as per the School Inspection Bureau from Very Weak to Weak, from Weak to Acceptable or from Acceptable to Good is entitled to request its school fees to be increased by double the Educational Cost Index (ECI) of 3 per cent multiplied by 2.

In contrast, a private school that has maintained the same rating of the previous year is entitled to request its school fees to be increased by the ECI of 3 per cent, while a private school that has improved its rating from Good to Very Good is entitled to request its school fees to be increased by the ECI multiplied by 1.75.

A private school that improves its rating from Very Good to Outstanding is entitled to request its school fees to be increased by the ECI multiplied by 1.5, while a private school that has dropped in performance is not entitled to request any increase in its school fees for the next academic year.

Mohammed Ahmed Darwish, Chief Executive Officer of Permits and Compliance at KHDA, stated that the methodology used in the School Fees Framework in Dubai’s private schools is based mainly on the quality of education, which meets the needs of parents on the one hand and enhances the quality of educational options on the other.

The methodology also enhances competitiveness in the private education sector by motivating private schools to improve their performance in KHDA’s education quality ratings, he added, noting that KHDA’s competent work teams help all concerned parties plan carefully for the new academic year in a way that enhances the sustainability of the quality of education in schools.

Dubai’s private schools have recorded an increase of 4.5 per cent in the enrollment rates of their students since the end of the past academic year 2021-2022.

Dubai also witnessed the opening of around 22 new private schools over the past three years, bringing to 216 the private schools in Dubai that apply 17 diverse educational curricula.