Dubai school enrollments go up by 2.1 per cent, says new report

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DUBAI: School enrollments in Dubai have witnessed a 2.1 per cent growth, with more students being admitted into new schools, particularly those offering the UK or IB curriculum, reveals the latest Annual Education Landscape Report released by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) on Wednesday.

According to the 2019-20 report, a total of 295,148 students from 173 nationalities were enrolled into Dubai’s schools during this academic year, as against 289,195 in 2018-19 and 281,195 in 2017-18. Of them, Indians topped the list at 98,527 admissions, followed by 34,542 Emiratis, 22,668 Pakistanis, 17,238 Egyptians and 13,594 British nationals.

Highlights of the report

The report said there were 208 private schools (including 3 new schools) in all, offering 363,643 seats. In terms of curricula, 85 offered UK, 38 US, 34 Indian, 16 IB, 13 Ministry of Education and 22 other curricula. The UK schools had the maximum enrollments at 109,894, followed by 79,151 Indian, 49,251 US and 18015 IB.

Wide choices

Commenting on the findings of the report, Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of KHDA, said, “The opening of new private schools, training institutes and international branch campuses in Dubai over the last decade has stimulated growth and helped us create a diverse education community with diverse curricula and programmes that meets the expectations of families. Today, there is a wide range of options and choices in the market, compared to 10 years back, and this has resulted in the sector’s steady progress making Dubai even more attractive – both regionally and internationally. We want to sustain the progress and work as a catalyst to further strengthen the education sector and fulfill our aspiration to promote lifelong learning.”

He said, “Dubai’s private education sector continues to build on its success and pave the way forward by embracing Dubai’s vision for the next 50 years in line with future expectations. The success of key economic sectors in Dubai has created new opportunities that are contributing towards better infrastructure and creating more choice for families.”

UK schools have the maximum enrollments
Image Credit: GN Archive

Average fees and revenue

The report said Dubai’s private schools made an annual revenue of Dh8.45 billion during the year, with the average annual fees being paid by a student standing at Dh29,057. However, the majority of students (51.1 per cent) paid less than Dh20,000.

Teachers and higher education

Dubai’s private schools employed 20,752 teachers, of whom 16,852 were females. In terms of nationalities, Indians and Britons topped the list, followed by Egyptians, Filipinos and Irish. Forty five per cent of these teachers were at the same school for three years or less and 29 per cent for six years or more.

Higher education institutions saw an enrollment of 29,960 students, of whom 7,544 graduated as of October 31, 2019. The maximum number of enrollments was for bachelor’s courses (17,651), followed by Masters’ programmes (9,754). As many as 756 students got into Phd doctorate courses. In terms of nationalities, Indians topped again at 11,903, followed by 3,798 Emiratis and 2,206 Pakistanis.