New Dubai school offers Dh18,000 discount on annual tuition fees

A new school in Dubai, which is set to open next month, will be waiving term 1 fees for all new student admissions who register before December 1.

One of 13 new schools to open in Dubai this year, parents who register their child/children at Renaissance School in Sports City over the next two months will receive a huge discount on the school's annual fees, Khaleej Times has learnt.

Set to open on October 1 (teaching KG1 to Grade 4 in its opening year), parents registering students in KG1 and KG2 will receive a discount of Dh14,000; for Grades 1 and 2 they will make a saving of Dh16,800; and for Grades 3 and 4, Dh18,000 will be waived off of term 1 fees.

The US curriculum school is just one of many schools now offering attractive and innovative ways to attract students to its campus. Speaking to Khaleej Times, founding principal, Ms Zetha Nobles said the decision to offer the substantial discount was because the school launch was "accelerated". After submitting an academic plan to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) in June, it was approved on Monday, which is when the school could officially announce its opening date.

"That (timeline for launch) is extremely tight for a new school. We only just announced the school yesterday so parents are only just finding out about us. We took the decision to waive the first term's fees because we know that children have been in school for four weeks already. As a goodwill gesture to parents, we're offering this as we are prepared to accept parents, and build a relationship with them at our cost. We were only able to announce yesterday because there is a specific approval place that we have to adhere to."

"With orientation days kicking off on September 30 and school doors opening on October 1, Nobles said "class sizes will be very small in the first year".

"Parents who register now to start school straight away will avail this offer and it will continue until December 1, 2018. Founding parents will have term 1 fees waived completely so this means their annual fees will be Dh21,000 for KG1 and 2; Dh25,200 for Grades 1 and 2; and Dh27,000 for Grades 3 and 4 in the first year."

The KHDA's approved annual fees at Renaissance School (without the discount in place) is Dh35,000 for KG1 and KG2; Dh42,000 for Grades 1 and 2; and Dh45,000 for Grades 3 and 4.

"The founding fees apply for one year only and they are for the academic year 2018/19," Nobles added.

As per normal school registrations, a fee of Dh500 is to be paid prior to assessment of a student applicant, and an admission fee deposit of Dh3,000 (non-refundable) is required within seven days of the offer (adjustable against the second term's tuition fee).

School fee discounts become norm for parents

Just last week, a report released by the Education Intelligence Group (EIG) and Property Finder looked at the changing demographics in the education and property sector. It noted that despite rental prices coming down in price over the past two years, school tuition fees have continued to rise.

But with the government's decision to freeze all school fee increases across the UAE earlier this year, the report noted that school operators need to "move with the changing tide", by revising their approach to student enrollment and overall fees.

With competition now rife in the education sector, tuition fee discounts, much like this latest one offered by Renaissance School, is set to become the norm in a bid to fill school seats.

By 2027, Dubai alone is set to open an additional 120 new schools, so reward schemes and discounts will be vital in attracting students, given that education is one of the biggest costs for parents here.

Today, schools already have offers in place including the sibling discounts, which can see savings of between five to 30 per cent on each additional child enrolled at a school within one family.

The Gems Education network also launched its Gems Rewards programme in 2017, a kind of Entertainer for school parents, which boasts more than 1,000 offers and partners with more than 300 brands. Parents can earn points to pay for school fees, and get discounts of up to four per cent on every successful student referral.

Additionally, in a Khaleej Times article earlier this month, it highlighted how Kings Nad Al Sheba has partnered with the Aviation Pilots Club, Emirates and Standard Chartered and offer students whose parents work at these companies a discount. And The American School of Creative Science offers discounts to children whose parents work for the Dubai Police.

• UAE
• Dubai