As news broke that all public and private schools are set to remain closed until the end of the 2019/2020 academic year, parents across the UAE geared themselves up for another three months of distance learning.
But there were also plenty of questions asked with regard the school fees: Would UAE schools be reducing their fees for term three in light of the fact that facilities remain closed and e-learning will be ongoing until the summer holidays?
The answer isn’t straightforward as while yes, some have taken the decision to pass on a fee reduction to parents, others have not.
All have their own reasons and not all reductions are the same across the board as Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) and Abu Dhabi’s Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) – both of which oversee the education systems in their respective emirates – stated that it was up to individual schools to decide on the best course of action.
We have compiled a list showing all the schools that have so far taken the decision to reduce their fees for this final term.
Please note that this list will be regularly updates to include any schools that announce plans to go down this same route over the coming weeks.
All information regarding the below fee reductions was submitted to Time Out UAE Kids directly from the schools via their marketing / public relations contacts, shared with us via parents who had received official communication from their school or taken directly from the school’s official social media accounts.
Aldar Academies Al Ain and Abu Dhabi
“We have collectively agreed that Aldar Academies will implement a reduction in school fees of 20 percent for Term 3 of the current academic year with the option to pay these fees over a four-month period,” the school announced.
In addition they said that: “We understand that the economic impact of the current situation may be felt for longer than a few months, so we will be introducing a zero percent interest monthly payment plan for the 2020/2021 academic year to help our parents manage their expenditure and avoid external loans to pay school fees. This is in addition to any catering and transport refunds already processed for Term 3.”
“We also understand we may need to do more for some families, so we will establish an ‘all in this together’ fund to support those families who have been significantly impacted financially, and to support those who may be impacted in the future. We will be able to share further information on this initiative in due course.”
The Aldar Academies portfolio includes Al Ain Academy, Al Beteen Academy, Al Mamoura Academy, Al Muna Academy, Al Yasmina Academy, Craneligh School Abu Dhabi, The Pearl Academy and West Yas Academy.
www.aldaracademies.com.
'Schools announce Term 3 tuition fee cuts' via @TheNationalUAE
⢠Horizon English School and Horizon Int'l School – 20%
⢠Safa Community School – 20%
⢠The Next Generation School – 20%
⢠Dubai English Speaking School & College – 20% https://t.co/NAFWPfGZSx— KHDA (@KHDA) April 1, 2020
Al Najah Education
Al Najah Education has announced a 20 percent reduction in school fees at its two Jumeirah-based British curriculum schools, Horizon English School and Horizon International School. The group was the first in the UAE to offer a relief plan to parents, which will apply to all year groups for term three of the 2019/2020 academic year.
www.alnajaheducation.com.
We're discounting Term 3 fees for all parents because “As an organisation, Taaleem is mindful of the potential immediate impact that the current situation is having on some of our families that have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak” CEO @AlanDWilliamso1 @KHDA pic.twitter.com/cHY8OULdax
— Taaleem (@Taaleem) April 6, 2020
Al Salam Schools
Parents with children in FS1 and FS2 can expect a 20 percent reduction on school fees, while parents with kids in years one, two and three will be offered 15 percent off. For years four to 13 a 10 percent reduction applies. Al Salam Schools includes Al Salam Private School and Al Salam Community School and both say that families can make the payment any time before the end of June.
www.alsalamcommunity.ae.
Ambassador Education
The Ambassador School and Ambassador International Academy is offering means based support to help those most affected by the current situation. Mr James Lynch, the Principal of Ambassador International Academy, issued a letter to parents at the beginning of April in which he said: “We are sensitive to the needs of all families, which will vary in magnitude. However, we need to stand together to understand and handhold the families who need our help the most at this juncture.
www.ambassadoreducation.org.
Arcadia
Arcadia Education has announced a 20 percent discount off Term three fees at Arcadia School. Parents needing any further support have been told they are welcome to approach the school to have a discussion and individual circumstances will be looked at on a case by case basis.
www.arcadia.sch.ae.
British International School Abu Dhabi
British International School Abu Dhabi is reducing school fees for term three by 15 percent across all years.
www.bisabudhabi.com.
British School Al Kubairat
The school will be implementing a 15 percent discount on term three fees, but has also said that any parents experiencing severe payment difficulties, should contact the school to discuss.
www.britishschool.sch.ae.
Capital School
Capital School is offering a discount on fees depending on the year group so FS1 will get a 61 percent discount, FS2 35 percent, year 1 33 percent and years two and above will get a 20 percent discount. The school has also offered to assist parents on a case by case basis with regard their individual financial difficulties. In addition, the school has waived all admission and registration fees.
www.capitalschoolsuae.com.
Dubai Heights Academy
Dubai Heights Academy, a British curriculum school in Al Barsha, has reduced its fees by ten percent for the third academic term of this year, in addition to an existing discount on annual fees. Parents are also being offered the opportunity to spread their payments over three months – April, May and June. The school is asking any parent experiencing payment difficulties to contact them directly as well. “We realise that this is a very challenging time for many parents and we are doing our utmost to ease the burden of tuition fees. At the same time, the school is also committed to delivering a high quality education and ensuring community safety and these will remain our top priority,” Alison Lamb, Principal, Dubai Heights Academy.
www.dubaiheightsacademy.com.
Dubai English Speaking School and Dubai English Speaking College
Primary school DESS and secondary DESC have reduced term three fees by 20 percent. Both schools follow the British curriculum and are not for profit.
www.dess.sch.ae, www.desc.sch.ae.
Dunecrest American School
Dunecrest American School is offering a discount of 18 percent on tuition fees for term three for all students currently enrolled in Pre-KG through Grade 11. This discount will be applied to the first payment for the 2020/2021 school year for returning families. In addition, all re-enrollment deposits for 2020/2021 will be waived for families that complete payments for 2019/2020. Families departing Dunecrest at the end of the current school year will receive a refund equivalent to the discount at the end of June. The school is also open to further discussions about fee reductions for families most in need of this.
Fairgreen International School
The newly-opened school located in The Sustainable City, is offering 25 percent off fees for parents with children in preK, KG1 and KG2. 15 percent of this will be applied to term three fees and ten percent will be applied to the first term of the next academic year, 2020/2021.
Parents with kids in grades one to nine have been given a reduction of 15 percent on school fees that will see them have ten percent applied to the current term three and five percent applied to term one of the 2020/2021 academic year.
www.fairgreen.ae.
Fortes Education
Sunmarke School and Regent International School will both be offering parents a reduction in term three school fees. The schools will provide a 25 percent discount to the parents of children in FS1 and FS2, while parents of children in years one to 13 can expect to pay a 20 percent reduction in fees. Half of the discount will be applied to the term three fees, while the other half will be applied to the fees of term one in the next academic year, 2020/2021.
If parents have already paid their school fees for the third term, the discount will be deducted from term one of the 2020/2021 academic year.
www.forteseducation.com.
GEMS Education
Rather than offer a blanket discount to all families with children at GEMS Schools, the UAE’s largest school group has adopted a means based initiative that will see them only offer discounts to parents who have been directly affected by the current situation.
www.gemseducation.com.
Global Indian International School in Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Amol Vaidya, Senior Operations Director for Global Indian International School in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi said: “We are offering two types of support for our families. The first is short term for term one for those parents who are suffering temporary short term distress. Secondly, we will be offering full year support for those parents who may have a situation of a break or reduction in salary for a longer period. Both schemes have terms and conditions to be fulfilled.”
www.globalindianschool.org.
Innoventures Education
The schools that come under the Innoventures Education umbrella, which includes Dubai International Academy, Collegiate American School, Raffles International School and Raffles World Academy, are offering a 20 percent discount on term three fees across all year groups. In addition, parents will be offered personalised payment plans and deferment of fees. This will apply to families who have lost jobs, had salary cuts or been placed on unpaid leave as a direct result of the current situation.
www.innoventureseducation.com.
International Indian School in Abu Dhabi
Parents will be offered a 30 percent discount on school fees for term three and an additional ten to 15 percent discount for siblings. All transport fees will also be waived for the third term.
www.iischoolabudhabi.com.
Jumeirah English Speaking School
JESS Dubai (a not for profit British curriculum school), which includes its primary campus in Jumeirah and its primary and secondary campuses at Arabian Ranches, has offered a 10 percent discount on term three school fees and is allowing parents to pay over three monthly instalments.
www.jess.sch.ae.
Nord Anglia School
There will be a 15 percent discount applied to all term three school fees for all age groups.
www.nordangliaeducation.com.
Ranches Primary School
Ranches Primary School (RPS) has announced a Term three fee reduction of 20 percent for all Foundation Stage (FS1 and FS2) and 15 percent for all Key Stage (Years one through six) students to help parents cope with the economic hardship caused by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
In addition, RPS is considering additional measures to support its families for Academic Year 2020-2021. Among these measures, the school is considering lower fees for all year levels for next year. It is also considering flexible monthly payment plans as well as waiving admission, registration, and testing fees for Term 1 for new admissions.
www.rpsdubai.com.
Repton Schools
The Repton Family of Schools in the UAE – comprising Repton Dubai, Foremarke School Dubai and Repton Abu Dhabi (Repton Fry Campus Abu Dhabi, Repton Foundation School Rose Campus) – has announced an immediate Dhs8million Repton Family Support Fund (RFSF), providing financial support to its families suffering financial hardship as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, parents will receive a 15 percent fee reduction from Term three’s fees applied to the 2020/2021 academic year.
www.repton.org, www.reptonabudhabi.org, www.foremarkedubai.org.
Safa British School and Safa Community School
Both Safa Community School and Safa British School were the second schools in Dubai to offer a discount to parents on term three fees. The discount at both schools is 20 percent across all year groups. Parents who have already paid full fees for term three will be given a credit note for the next academic year.
www.safabritishschool.com, www.safacommunityschool.com.
South View School
South View School, located in Remraam community in Dubailand, has promised a number of supportive measures to help families through this difficult period. There are various discounts on offer to help families depending on what year their child is in – from 20 percent for FS kids, 15 percent for children in years one to six and ten percent for kids in secondary school. Parents can also opt to stagger payments.
www.southviewschool.com.
Star International and Star International Mirdif
Parents at both of these schools are being offered a 20 percent discount on term three school fees. Any parents that have already paid the fees will be given a credit note and those struggling to pay can sign up to a payment plan with the accountants during this difficult period.
www.starintlschoolaltwar.com, www.starmirdifschool.com.
Swiss International Scientific School Dubai
Swiss International Scientific School Dubai (SISD), has announced fee reductions of up to 20 percent in early years (Pre-K to KG2), 15 percent in primary (Grades one to five) and eight percent in secondary (Grades six to 11).
Norbert Foerster, Head of School at SISD said “We particularly appreciate the commitment of our community in these challenging times and our exceptional discount of up to 20% for the period of April-June 2020 recognises that circumstances have placed a significant burden on parents, and is offered in spite of the fact that the school’s main obligations have not diminished in any meaningful way. The calculation takes into account the fact that the burden is heavier on those supporting younger students. Moreover, secondary school fees have recently been significantly and favourably revised for the school year 2020/2021.”
www.sisd.ae.
Taaleem
The second largest school group in the UAE is offering discounts on term three fees depending on the school year. It will provide a 25 percent discount for the foundation years, 20 percent for primary schools and 20 percent for secondary schools. The discount will be applied with 50 percent immediate effect and 50 percent credited against next term’s enrolment, while any parent who had already made payment for term three school fees can claim a credit note to be used against the 2020/2021 academic year’s invoice.
In addition, parents can pay term three school fees in three equal instalments should they wish to do so. And there will be no enrolment fees for new families joining the school.
Taaleem currently owns and operates nine schools in the UAE, including Al Mizhar American Academy, Dubai British School, Jumeirah Baccalaureate School and Raha International School.
www.taaleem.ae.
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The Arbor School
The Arbor School is offering 20 percent off for Term 3 fees, and also offered a further reduction to any parents who paid the school fees before Saturday April 11.
www.thearborschool.ae.
The English College
Fees are to be discounted by Dhs2,250 for FS1, FS2, year one and year two. Parents with kids in years three through 13 will receive Dhs1,750 off their school fees.
www.theenglishcollege.ac.ae.
The Next Generation School
The Next Generation School has announced a 20 percent discount on term three school fees.
www.nextgenerationschool.ae.
Has your school given you a discount on school fees? Let us know by emailing timeoutkids@itp.com.
