ABU DHABI // More than 2,000 pupils at the 21st Century Private Academy are still waiting for classes to begin while their school remains closed four days into the new academic year.
On what was to be the first day of class on Sunday, several parents visited the Filipino school and were told by an assistant principal that classes were tentatively scheduled to resume in October.
“We tried to request written or formal information so we could hold on to it, but unfortunately she told us it should be coming from Adec,” said D P, a father of three.
When approached, the former assistant principal and the principal referred all queries to the Abu Dhabi Education Council.
“We haven’t heard anything from Adec regarding the start of the school year. About the concerns that we have about the payments, transfer from the old to the new operator, we haven’t had an official statement,” D P said.
Parents first learnt of the school’s temporary closure through a text message they received from Adec last month.
The message notified parents that the school was closed and a new operator would be assigned by Adec because the old operator, American Companies Management Group, had consistently failed to raise the school’s unsatisfactory standards.
The message also said “any payments to the old operator will not be counted towards 2015-2016 fees”.
Adec later said that parents should consider filing a lawsuit against the school’s former operator to recoup the money they had paid towards their children’s tuition for the academic year.
Some parents said they were optimistic the new operator would honour the proof of payments they had already made for the coming academic year.
“I’m hoping and praying that it will push through so that the burden is not on us any more,” said another mother.
M F, whose son will enter Grade 2 this year, said her questions had also gone unanswered.
“I called Adec two days back and they just told me to wait,” said M F. “I asked what’s the new operator, when are we going to start school? They said they didn’t know the date yet, but they would send us a message. So I’m just waiting.”
Visitors to the 21st Century Private Academy are being told to call the mobile phone of an employee who said he worked for the Philippine Global School, which he identified as the new operator of the 21st Century Private Academy.
“By next week, we will have a small meeting and give information to the parents and, inshallah, maybe after next week we will start enrolling the children,” said the employee, adding that parents would be notified of the meeting by email and SMS.
Asked whether the new operators would honour the fees parents had already paid to the former managers, the employee referred queries to Leticia Maniaul, managing director of The Philippine School in Dubai. Mrs Maniaul declined to answer questions about the 21st Century Private Academy.
“I don’t want to comment on anything because the situation is still in progress,” Mrs Maniaul said. “I will be the one to give information to everyone, but not in the newspaper.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
Teachers' pay - what you need to know
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
The Florida Project
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
Four stars
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SPEC SHEET
Display: 10.9" Liquid Retina IPS, 2360 x 1640, 264ppi, wide colour, True Tone, Apple Pencil support
Chip: Apple M1, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 64/256GB storage; 8GB RAM
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, Smart HDR
Video: 4K @ 25/25/30/60fps, full HD @ 25/30/60fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR, Centre Stage; full HD @ 25/30/60fps
Audio: Stereo speakers
Biometrics: Touch ID
I/O: USB-C, smart connector (for folio/keyboard)
Battery: Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours on cellular
Finish: Space grey, starlight, pink, purple, blue
Price: Wi-Fi – Dh2,499 (64GB) / Dh3,099 (256GB); cellular – Dh3,099 (64GB) / Dh3,699 (256GB)
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
Kill%20
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, semi-final result:
Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona
Liverpool win 4-3 on aggregate
Champions Legaue final: June 1, Madrid
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