Home-Schooling –A Way to Beat Rising Fees

By Siham Al Najami and Maysam Ali, Staff Reporters (Courtesy – Gulf News) Last updated: July 26, 2008, 23:27

Dubai: Some UAE residents are opting to home-school their children as they are hit hard by the rise in living costs and expenses in the country. One such case is a Sudanese civil engineer who has been a resident for less than a year and was hoping to make enough money to offer his children a good education but was overwhelmed by the expenses. He ultimately decided to home school his five-year-old twins. "I am not in favour of home-schooling but given the circumstances it can turn into the only option for people with low-income salaries. I visited a few private schools, they are all requesting around Dh9,000 for each child and that's only for KG2," said A.M. Registration The twins are being home-schooled by their mother using the Ministry of Education curriculum but they are not registered with any institution. "Next year I might register them at a private school. Of course they will have to pass entry exams to go to grade one. I still have my doubts, apart from the fees, I am worried about the presence of different nationalities and religions in some schools. Today's children are picking up ideas and words that are not within their cultural and religious beliefs," said A.M. He said he might consider sending his twins back to Sudan as he firmly believes in the importance of getting education from schools and does not want his children to continue with home-schooling as it limits social interaction. Shahzad Afzal, a Pakistani, also a new resident in the UAE, said he is considering returning to Canada as they offer better education, for free. His reason for coming to Abu Dhabi was to save money but it is not possible with the costs of rent and school fees. Afzal said he is planning to home-school his five-year-old daughter from next year since school fees are increasing annually. An option open to all Dubai: Home-schooling, offered by the Ministry of Education, is open to all nationalities but the curriculum is offered solely in Arabic. Abdul Qadir Al Ameri, manager of the Adult Education and Home Schooling Department at the Administrative Services Unit in the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, said there are "a few cases where parents choose home-schooling because of ... expenses. They are mostly working adults, who couldn't pursue their education at a younger age." Home-schooling is authorised for UAE nationals from grade 6 if the pupil is over 14 years. Home-schooling is open to expats from grade 1, even if the child is in the same age group as other pupils. Home-learners, currently 14,000, can register at the education zone of their emirate and have to pay Dh150, covering book expenses. (Courtesy – Gulf News)