The approval by the Abu Dhabi Executive Council for new private schools in the capital that will offer fees ranging between Dh20,000 to Dh30,000 per annum will add fresh momentum in the field of education by widening the net of affordability for parents.
A great opportunity for both students and parents, this new initiative, with a pilot project to be launched by September this year, will address all curricula, which is an important consideration given that certain strands of curricula can be more expensive than others. In pegging the range of fees to a reasonable fee bracket with the assurance of more numbers of private schools, as well as access to all curricula, the initiative has ticked several boxes at once.
As the discourse on the costs of school education in the UAE gets more traction year after year, with several studies and research pointing to the fact that the country occupies among the top rungs in the cost index internationally, it becomes important to evaluate the impact of this on parents and students.
Creating a balance between the goals inscribed in the national agenda for education and the provision of facilities that will align with those goals has been a constant endeavour by the UAE as it continues to assess the lacunae and take action.
With growing expatriate student numbers by the year, due to the growing population, the need for more private schools in the UAE is imperative. It is also imperative that more parents be able to afford more curricula options for their children for an all-round positive impact. ADEC’s initiative is one more step in moving the UAE speedily towards that goal.
