Dubai: Securing seats at good schools is a daunting task, parents say, as enrolment has begun at international schools for the new academic year that starts in September.
Many parents, especially those who have sought admission for their children in lower grades, anticipate rejection from their first choice of school, due to a lack of seats. Most are registering at more than one school to avoid disappointment.
"In general, there might be no significant lack of seats in Dubai's private schools but it is very hard to get into well-reputed schools that are sought after," Gemma Ethan, a homemaker, who is seeking admission for her five-year old son, said.
Often there is a long waiting list, she said, adding that she has already registered with three schools.
"There certainly is a shortage of seats in good private schools that are well-rated and have established a good reputation with their communities," Clive Pierrepont, director of communications at education provider Taaleem, said.
Busy season
Parents seeking kindergarten seats at this time of year are the most challenged as that is where the highest demand is, he noted. According to him, this year looks particularly busy compared to 2010.
Even six months before the academic year begins most good schools already have a long waiting list.
"The situation often mostly adversely affects parents who newly move in to Dubai," Pierrepont said, adding that long-term residents learn to plan early, sometimes even years in advance to make sure they get the seats at the school they want.
However, the long waiting lists at schools do not always reflect the demand since many parents apply to a number of schools at the same time.
"Many parents apply to four or five or even more schools at the same time. We do not give false hopes to parents. Instead, we convey the number of pupils on our wait lists and advice them on the situation," Pierrepont said.
Seats are still available at Taaleem's new school, the Jumeira Baccalaureate School, since they have increased capacity for 2011-12. Taaleem is in talks with the authorities to help relieve the pressure on the oversubscribed sections, he added.
An official at Raffles International School said that the school's waiting list has almost a hundred names in it. "But we believe many of those who applied will secure seats because we are opening new sections this year."
The seats' crunch is always higher for the lower grades as compared to senior grades, the official added.
"Many schools charge Dh300 to Dh500 as registration fee, which is non-refundable. But since there is no guarantee of getting a seat, all that the parents can do is register at more schools," Ryan Ahmad, a parent said.
Kings Dubai, a UK-curriculum school, rated outstanding last year by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), mentions on their website that the waiting lists across many years at the school are extensive and that they have hence closed applications for certain year groups.
Dubai The demand for places in schools has been further augmented by influx of pupils from neighbouring Arab countries, according to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA).
"The private school sector is currently experiencing its usual demand for school seats. This demand has been further augmented by the influx of student population from the neighbouring Arab countries," Mohammad Darwish, chief of Regulation and Compliance (RCC) told Gulf News.
This year, KHDA has permitted the opening of two new schools in April and two more this September.
"These schools will help in absorbing most of the demand the schools in Dubai are currently facing. Expansion requests from the current schools will also absorb some of the likely demand," Darwish said.
In addition, KHDA is actively facilitating the current admission process at the schools by adopting a moderate approach with regards the admission requirements and speeding up the process with hands-on decision making, he said.
Darwish noted that there the authority has recorded increased number of queries from potential new investors in the education sector.
"The education sector is poised for growth and is expected to cope with anticipated increase in population," he added.
