Parents and educators in Dubai have praised a “well-needed” push to increase the provision of affordable schooling in the emirate.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, this month approved plans to build 60 new affordable schools to serve 120,000 pupils by 2033, as part of a long-term strategy aimed at improving access to quality education.
“I think it’s brilliant and well-needed,” said Shazia Bharuchi, a career consultant and mother of two. “Schooling is a necessity, it’s not a luxury. It should really be affordable, so I’m really happy about this initiative.”
Dino Varkey, group chief executive of Gems Education, said there was a misconception that cheaper schooling meant lower-quality education. “Rather, it simply means we are more efficient in how we delivery quality without compromising on standard,” he said. “True affordability means providing families with access to excellent teaching, diverse opportunities and modern learning environments that deliver exceptional outcomes at a sustainable fee level.”
As the largest education group, serving about 80,000 pupils across the UAE, Gems runs a wide variety of schools, from the most expensive to some of the emirate’s most affordable. The biggest difference between schools at both ends of the spectrum is the types of facilities, breadth of curriculums and extracurricular opportunities, Mr Varkey added.
“Premium schools may offer larger campuses, specialised labs and a wider range of programmes, while more affordable schools focus on providing the same rigorous curriculum and excellent teaching within a more cost-efficient model,” he said.
The group opened the UAE’s most expensive school this year, with fees at the Gems School of Research and Innovation in Dubai ranging from Dh116,000 ($31,500) for pupils in Foundation Stage One, to Dh206,000 in Year 12.
Fees of about Dh40,000 to Dh60,000 per annum for the lower years are common, but some schools can be as low as Dh4,000, including Al Sadiq Islamic English School and Crescent English High School, for example.
Citywide effort
The emirate will seek to encourage investors to establish lower-cost schools by offering discounts on government fees, including reduced land leasing costs, as part of the newly announced scheme. This initiative is central to Dubai’s ambitions to rank among the world’s top 10 cities for quality of education under the Education Strategy 2033.
It comes weeks after Dubai’s private education regulator emphasised the need to ease the financial burden on parents. “We noticed talk on social media about the high cost of schools,” Aisha Miran, director general of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, said in September at the Mohammed bin Rashid Leadership Forum, in Dubai World Trade Centre.
“I received a message from a foreigner saying the cost of her children’s education was Dh1 million in Dubai. We are focusing on providing good education with affordable prices for families.”
Positive step
Dr Louise Lambert, an expert in positive psychology, was among a group of researchers who conducted a study two years ago involving 19,000 pupils to assess curriculum types, well-being and academic outcomes.
“What we found is that the British schools had the most miserable kids, but the best academic outcomes,” she told The National. Public schools reported the lowest academic outcomes, but the happiest children, she added. “The best of both worlds was in the middle, where you had good education, you weren’t spending extra and kids did really well academically. And they were happy.”
Some of the most expensive schools in Dubai spend money on world-class facilities, such as robotics labs and Olympic-sized swimming pools. The city’s Gems World Academy has a planetarium.
Dr Lambert warned that while the most expensive schools may seem like a “five-star resort”, the high costs can increase stress on some pupils, “which starts to undermine their academic outcomes”.
“At the mid-tier schools, the academic outcomes were just as good [according to the study],” she added. “The only thing it doesn’t come with is the social network of high-net-worth families, which today is increasingly less important anyway.”
When parents are happy, children are happier, which leads to improved academic outcomes, Dr Lambert explained. “There has never been that middle class of schools … so I think developing and building out this middle layer is fantastic,” she said. “It really makes Dubai accessible to everyone.”
Accessibility is central to many parental concerns when it comes to education, said Victoria McKeown, a former educator and neurodiversity specialist who works with children and families with special needs in Dubai. “For many families raising neurodivergent children, finding the right educational environment can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack – and it’s often financially out of reach,” she said.
“Affordable schooling options matter because they open doors to inclusion. They give parents the ability to choose from multiple settings, rather than being limited by what they can afford.”
Traffic and the time it takes to travel to a school often determine where a family lives, Ms McKeown added. “In some parts of the city, affordable school options are still limited. This adds another layer of stress – balancing affordability, accessibility and the need for a setting where their child feels truly understood and supported.”
Hidden costs of education
Parents of children with additional needs also face hidden costs, such as therapy sessions, assessments, learning support, specialist tutoring and more. “Often having a child with additional needs can mean that only one parent can work so that the other can support their needs and take them to appointments and be with them after school,” Ms McKeown said.
Hidden costs are an issue for all families, added Ms Bharuchi, who works with career-driven parents in her consultancy practice. “The price of schooling doesn’t just stop at fees. There’s the uniforms, equipment, trips – so it builds up really quickly.”
Many of her clients include mothers forced to return to work earlier than they would like to help make ends meet as their children progress through school. “As the kids are growing older, the school is getting more expensive, so it’s an absolute necessity to try and get the second partner back to work and earning something so there could be support financially,” she said.
But as the population booms in the UAE, employment opportunities are becoming harder to secure, especially for mothers who had career breaks. Ms Bharuchi said some companies were now changing their policies on benefits, pulling back on offering educational allowances.
“There are some lucky people who have their schooling fully covered by the company, but as the kids get older, there’s hardly full coverage of schooling from employers any more,” she added. “So, for us to retain the type of talent and the mixture of people here, we need to have affordable schooling, otherwise people will start leaving.”
Thoughtful funding
Mr Varkey said efforts to offer affordable education were as important as the fees. “When families see that every dirham contributes directly to their children’s growth and success, that is when education truly delivers on its promise,” he said.
Ms McKeown also emphasised that schools need to prioritise where funds go. “If affordability is done thoughtfully, it can transform lives,” she said. “If it’s achieved through cost-cutting, it risks repeating the same barriers families already face.”
When a city focuses on affordable, inclusive education, everyone benefits, she added. “Families feel supported and are more likely to stay long term, communities become more compassionate and diverse, and children grow up in environments that celebrate differences rather than marginalise them.”
From The National website
