By Mohammed Siddiq M., Abu Dhabi, UAE
The UAE is a country with a high percentage of literacy among its population with almost 90% of its population being literate and also has a high standard of education. It is a country that devotes approximately 25% of the total federal government spending to education and also has an education council that comprises of various curriculums such as CBSE, ICSE, GCSE, A levels, O levels, IGCSE, IB, etc.
UAE: One of the expensive countries for education
However, although the UAE provides outstanding facilities for education and its students, the country stands as one of the most expensive countries in the world when it comes to school and university fees. It would be wrong to say that a variety in the cost of education does not exist, but it also holds true that the range between the cheapest and the most expensive varies between mid expensive to very expensive, which clearly indicates a range of options, but only for the rich and wealthy.
All over the UAE, the school that charges the least fees is the English Language School in Dubai that charges between 4101 to 10768 Dirhams a year (82020 to 215360 Rupees); and the school that charges the most fees in the UAE is the GEMS World Academy in Dubai that charges between 40000 to 114128 Dirhams a year (800000 to 2282560 Rupees). Moreover, the cost of studying in a university in the UAE is much higher and often beyond affordability for the citizens of the country. It would not cost any less than 40000 Dirhams (800000 Rupees) a year to be able to study in a university in the UAE and the cost could go up to 200000 Dirhams (4000000 Rupees) a year as well.
Despite the fact that the cost of university fees is beyond affordability for most people in the country, almost 2/3 jobs in the UAE job market require a university degree in order to be a candidate for the job. What this has lead to is a pay wall to a descent middle class life.
Income growth vs increase in cost of education
What makes it difficult to pay off education costs of students is not only the fact that it is very high, but also the fact that over the past 30 years, the cost of education has gone up by almost 110% while the average income has increased marginally by only 16%, i.e., from an average income of 15328 Dirhams a month to 18248 Dirhams a month (306560 to 364960 Rupees).
The UAE consists of 624 schools and 65 colleges with 627800 and 139560 students respectively and the educational system in the UAE exists as a highly profitable business.