DUBAI // Increasing competition among schools in the emirate has resulted in potential and existing pupils being attracted by fee discounts and other benefits.
Now one of the highest rated private schools in Dubai has launched a scholarship programme for gifted and talented children.
Kings’ School in Dubai was awarded an ‘Outstanding’ rating for the eighth consecutive year in the latest round of inspections by Dubai’s education regulator earlier this month.
In an attempt to attract more exceptional pupils the school will launch its first scholarship programme for the next academic year.
“Building on the Kings’ success story to date, we feel it is a natural progression to support our learning community by encouraging children who are gifted in sporting and academic areas an opportunity to share and contribute to the unique Kings’ experience,” says Dr Pablo Fetter, chief executive of Kings’ Education.
Dubai already has 173 private schools and a further 20 are due to be opened by next year.
This is leading some experts to believe that the market may be shifting to an oversupply of school places resulting in greater competition and pressure on revenue.
Natasha Ridge, executive director of the education think-tank Al Qasimi Foundation in Ras Al Khaimah told The National earlier this month that fewer students coupled with demand for paying higher salaries for the best teachers was reducing profit margins at schools.
“I think with so many new schools opening that we might be approaching a saturation point where places outstrip the number of pupils,” she said.
A number of schools are offering discounts on tuition fees to encourage existing pupils to stay and attract new ones.
Gems Education recently announced it would offer “educational endowments” to around 3,000 pupils, selected on an individual basis.
Arcadia Preparatory School, a new British-curriculum school, which will open in Jumeirah Village Triangle this summer, is offering a 30 per cent discount to all pupils who registered for its inaugural year.
Kings’ School is the only one to have been given the highest rating by the Dubai School Inspection Bureau since the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) began inspections in 2008.
The scholarships will initially launch in two age groups.
The Middle Years’ Scholarship will be for academic and or sporting excellence and will be open for children attending Year 6 in the 2016/17 academic year.
The GCSE Scholarship for academic excellence, will target pupils beginning Year 10 in September 2016.
The scholarships will be available in all Kings’ schools in Dubai.
Approval for the scheme will be highly selective with a maximum of three scholarships available at year age group.
The initiative all include a 50 per cent discount off school fees for two years and provide an opportunity to take on an ambassadorial role for “Kings’ values”.
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