DUBAI: The 30-year-old Emirates English Speaking School (EESS) in Al Safa will be shutting down next year. The last batch of students graduating from the school will be in March 2019.
The CBSE curriculum school, which runs classes from Kindergarten to Grade 12, has issued a letter to parents informing them about the closure at the end of the current academic year.
The letter said the school would seek seats for the students at other CBSE schools and hoped they would be accommodated.
The school currently has 1,550 students. Over 10,000 students have passed out of the school over the years.
Quality education
Khaleel Shubair, administration manager at EESS, told XPRESS, “It is difficult to attract quality staff given the low fee structure. We want to ensure the highest quality of education for our kids as we have in the last 30 years, but it has become difficult to achieve that balance.” The father of a Grade 2 student said his daughter is extremely upset with news of the closure.
“She is quite an introvert and it took her some time to make friends. She does not want to leave this school and my wife and I are worried about how she will cope with the change.”
An alumni of EESS, Sunita Lakhiani, 36, who passed out in 1999 said, “Some of my closest friends are people I met at EESS. We are saddened to hear about the closure. It seems like a part of our childhood is being taken away. My friends and I plan to have lunch together at the school canteen before it shuts down.”
Permission granted
The school’s rating in the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA)’s inspections dropped to “weak” in 2012.
Ever since, the school has been struggling to rope in good staff and improve its standing.
Mohammad Darwish, chief of Regulations and Permits Commission at KHDA, said, “KHDA has approved the school management’s request to discontinue educational services from the next academic year.
“The school has already put in place a plan to ensure students affected by the closure can be accommodated in other schools and that it would help parents and students with a smooth transition,” he added.
