Parents voice concern over Raffles teacher dismissals

DUBAI // Layoffs at Raffles International Schools have raised concerns among parents over the impending change in the school's management. The new management have not renewed the contracts of 33 teachers and seven teaching assistants across the network of schools and nurseries, citing low enrolment. The schools were founded in 2007 by the developer Emaar, which three months ago announced it they would be transferring them to Innoventures Education, which also runs the Dubai International School, starting in the new school year.

However, the schools have struggled to attract pupils and simply had too many teachers. Raffles International Umm Suqeim West and South campuses have around 1,200 pupils on their rolls, well below their capacity of 3,400. Avishesha Bhojani, the chief executive of Emaar Education and managing director of Innoventures, said the redundancies were necessary. "As with any restructuring, there will be hard decisions to make," Mr Bhojani said in an email. He said class size and performance were among the reasons why teachers were let go. "Some teachers have also been released on grounds of non-conformity to KHDA [Knowledge and Human Development Authority] approvals," he said.

Teaching and classroom support staff has been cut by 11 per cent across the Raffles network, which comprises two school campuses and six nurseries, all in Dubai. Raffles employs 206 teachers and 135 classroom assistants. Some teachers complained that they were given only a month's notice that their contracts would not be renewed. "Schools have already recruited their staff for the academic year. Generally they recruit in December and January," said one Raffles teacher. "They have given us a month's notice to pack up our lives and return to our respective countries."

The teacher said she was not given any warning of performance issues nor non-compliance with KHDA rules. Mr Bhojani said the dismissals were in line with the teachers' contracts. "All teachers will be paid salaries until end August," he said. He said the redundancies had addressed problems with the pupil-teacher ratio. "There have been many classes with under five students per class and also many classes with one or two students per class."

In April, Emaar said it was shutting its girls' high school because of low enrolment. The closure was unpopular with many parents, who petitioned management to reconsider. Parents with children at Raffles South campuses expressed concern yesterday. "It's all about communication," said one parent. "Most of us just want to know what will happen next year." Last month, 160 parents of children at Raffles South Campus wrote to management requesting a meeting to discuss the changes, which, they said, "may have a negative impact on our children".

Mr Bhojani said management would meet parents individually to address concerns, but parents said a request for a group meeting was turned down. He added that parents had been sent a circular addressing the issue. But some parents said the circular was not enough. "Most parents I know have registered their kids somewhere else as a 'plan B' and they're waiting to see what happens at Raffles," said one parent. But she said she does not want to move her children from Raffles.

According to Mr Bhojani, there has not been a noticeable impact on enrolment. About 100 of 1,900 children in Raffles schools and nurseries will not return next year. @Email:[e-mail]