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Unpaid rent: Dubai school faces closure

A Dubai school is facing closure after its two years’ default on rent finally caught up with it.

The Al Farooq Pakistani School, attended by 700 students from kindergarten to Grade 10, is likely to be evicted from its rented campus in Hor Al Anz after defaulting on payments for two consecutive years. The defaults began immediately after it was forced out of its original villa premises when a law banning schools from operating out of villas came into effect.

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) said it will try to help the affected students, after the school was served with an eviction order from the rent committee.

Mohammed Darwish, Chief of Regulations and Compliance Commission (RCC) at KHDA, has criticised the school for its handling of the matter.

“The KHDA expected a more proactive approach from the school management. Since the required steps have not been taken, the KHDA is stepping in to protect the interests of the students. The KHDA is keen that the parents are not faced with a situation where they have no where to go in April.”

The KHDA has negotiated to allow the school to complete the current academic year on the premises, although the legal notice was issued with immediate effect.

From April 2013 the school will not have premises to operate from its Hor Al Anz campus, thereby risking the withdrawal of its education permit.

The KHDA has been liaising and working with other schools, including the other two Pakistani curriculum schools, to find seats for the affected students and facilitate the paperwork to get the students into other schools of their choice. Darwish said: “The students of the school are now KHDA’s priority. We will facilitate the smooth transfer of these students to other schools of their choice.”

The KHDA has had several meetings with the school management to discuss the options available to the school, including the use of a land grant that the school has not yet used. Darwish said if the school management is unable to come up with a workable option, parents of the students are required to approach the other two Pakistani curriculum schools or a school of their choice to seek places for their children. The KHDA had previously helped the school move to a public school building from its villa premises after a federal law banned schools from operating out of villas.

The school has defaulted on its rental payment since its occupation of the building two years ago and has been rated unsatisfactory since the school inspection cycle started. Darwish added: “We encourage investment in Pakistani-curriculum schools in Dubai. The Pakistani community, like all others in Dubai, demands high quality education for its children. The KHDA is keen to support serious school operators to serve this growing segment.

muaz@khaleejtimes.com