Parents of students in private schools told «Emirates Today» that they are looking for low-fee schools to face the effects of the corona pandemic they are exposed to, indicating that their financial situation was negatively affected by the pandemic.
They added that they do not put the level of education, or its quality, in the list of priorities currently, especially in light of the application of the system of "distance education" or "hybrid education", because the family bears the bulk of the implementation of the teaching plan for the student.
They asserted that they decided to transfer their children from their schools, after their departments refused to reduce the fees for the third (finished) semester, or school bus fees, to support them after their income was affected by Corona.
They added that the schools did not provide a good hypothetical educational model for students, because the greater part of the teaching burden was placed on families.
They explained that they faced other challenges, such as teachers dealing with students during the virtual session, technical problems, and some schools limited to broadcasting recorded videos of lessons, without direct interaction between students and their teachers.
On the other hand, a school principal in Sharjah, who declined to be named, confirmed that there are a large number of vacant seats in the school, especially the first academic stages.
He said that a large number of students decided to move to other schools, of lower quality, to reduce the cost of education.
In detail, Aisha Jamal (the mother of Talib) said: “My son is studying in the seventh grade in a private school in Dubai, applying the American curriculum, with tuition fees exceeding 40,000 dirhams annually. Although its fees are high, we suffered a lot during the third semester of the ending school year, due to the application of the (distance education) system in an unplanned manner, as the result was that we assumed the burden of teaching almost completely to the student ».
She added, “We are looking for another school, with lower tuition fees, because if the distance education or hybrid education system is applied, they deprive students of some educational services that they get from school, the most prominent of which is the social interaction between students, approved sports and technical activities, and others ».
Hayam Selim (the mother of two students) stated that she suffered with her two children (in the third and fourth grades) during the distance education period, when she transformed her home into a mini-school, and she played the role of a teacher in all subjects, pointing out that the school of her two children that applied the British curriculum, And she charges 25 thousand dirhams to the student, "she relied heavily on broadcasting video clips of the lessons, and the role of the teacher or the teacher was not clear in interacting with the students."
She pointed out that the school proved that it was primarily concerned with reducing its expenses, although this significantly affected educational performance, adding that searching for a school with lower fees is the best option for them, and in the end, “distance education” is equal to high schools. Fees and lowest fees.
Khaled Abdul Majeed (father of three students) said that many employees in different sectors were subject to a reduction in their salaries by up to 50%, which results in difficulty in providing school fees, especially if these fees are noticeably high, adding: “What increases fatigue The head of the household financially has more than one child in the years of education, and then he has two options, either that the school reduces its fees or searches for another school with lower fees ».
He pointed out that his monthly income was negatively affected, due to the pandemic of "Corona", and therefore he preferred that his children return to complete their education in his homeland, noting that he tried to transfer them to a less expensive school, but he did not find what suits him in his area of residence.
Khawla Abdullah (mother of a student) said, “The application of distance education led me to transfer my daughter to a government school instead of the private school where she was studying in the last academic year, because interest in virtual education in government schools was the best, in addition to that it would relieve us from Pay tuition fees, and in return we will not get the required educational service. ”
Ahmed Youssef (the guardian of three students) reported that he faced several challenges during the distance study period, which caused him to bear significant financial burdens, most notably the acquisition of more than one computer, as a result of the multiplicity of students at home, the cost of repairing them, in addition to upgrading the speed of the home internet.
He added that the financial cost represented an addition to the school fees, which did not witness a reduction during the third semester, despite the fact that students did not obtain many of the services that were available to them during school hours.
He demanded that the education authorities in the state obligate private schools to provide computers for students and facilitate charging their fees in installments, stressing that he is currently looking for a school that is less expensive than what he pays for his children's school, to reduce the expenses incurred by his family’s budget during the last period.
A school principal in Sharjah, who declined to be named, confirmed the presence of a large number of vacant seats in the school.
He said that his school is trying to preserve the students who are in it by offering them financial discounts, pointing out that the reason is the high cost of living in general, especially education, in light of the private sector's exposure to significant financial losses, due to the precautionary measures to confront "Covid-19".
Moving to new schools
Deputy Director of a private school in Sharjah, Faten Saeed, confirmed the negative, negative health conditions, on the income of many workers in the private sector, pointing out that this is what motivated them to search for schools with lower tuition fees to register their children in them because “the students’ families are trying to reduce expenses ” In general, including tuition fees, which are the highest in the family budget. ”
She added that «the school is one of the lowest fees among private schools that adopt the ministerial curriculum, as fees ranged between 6600 dirhams for (KG1), and 12,000 dirhams for the twelfth grade. Considering the material conditions that everyone is going through, the students ’attendance to register in it is good, especially since many schools witness the withdrawal of files from a number of their students to transfer to other schools».
Public schools are more interested in virtual education than in private schools.
Much of the virtual teaching burden is borne by the students ’families.