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Public school admissions in Abu Dhabi begin on February 23
Public school admissions in Abu Dhabi begin on February 23 Olivia Olarte-Ulherr / 18 February 2014 Expatriate students can register starting March 16 while admission age for Kindergarten students raised. Registration for the 2014-2015 academic year for the new Emirati students in public schools across the emirate will begin on February 23 and will continue till March 20. Expatriate students will have a week to register from March 16 to 20. Mohammad Salem Al Dhaheri, executive director of school operations at the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec), has urged parents to enrol their children as early as possible in order not to miss the deadline. “Missing the deadline will cause a lot of problems for the parents,” he said, noting that awarding of spaces will be based on first-come-first-serve basis,” he said. Online registration This year, registration has been made easier with the new online system adopted by the Adec. “We have introduced new features like using the Emirates ID to capture all information automatically. This will minimise the time spent by the school and the number of documents required to register a student,” said Walid Nsouli, senior information and communications technology (ICT) advisor at the council. With the Emirates ID card reader, registration of new students takes about three to five minutes compared to the old registration process of typing all information and scanning documents, which takes between 28 and 32 minutes. “For KG to Grade 5, we don’t need any documents to be scanned, but for the higher grades (Grades 6-12) we need their last grade report card,” Nsouli explained. Admission age In keeping with the new Ministry of Education guidelines, Adec clarified that the admission age for Kindergarten 1 (KG1) at public schools is four years old as of December 31 of the admission year. It will be five for KG2 and six up to eight years for Grade 1. The entry level for kindergarten previously was 3.6 years for KG1 and 5.6 years for Grade 1 by October 1 of the admission year. “They changed the new admission age to four years for KG1; the child should be four years old by December 31,” said Thuraya Khalifa Al Salmi, student administration manager from Adec. This is the new guideline in the UAE and takes effect during the 2014 to 2015 academic year,” she added. Waiting list Another system introduced to parents this year is the waiting list e-registration service. Parents who can’t find a place for their child can log on to Adec website www.adec.ac.ae and choose a school according to their area of residence. “This will minimise the parents coming to our regional offices and they will be informed which school they can go,” Nsouli explained, noting that the new system was introduced to avoid frustration among parents. He said this will also allow Adec to manage the distribution of students especially in new settlement areas. There are currently 126,000 students enrolled in 262 public schools across the emirate. Students who are eligible to register at Adec schools include Emirati children, GCC nationals, holders of presidential decrees, diplomatic missions’ children, children of expatriates (according to the applicable laws) and orphans sponsored by UAE nationals. olivia@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Dubai puts cap on school fee hike
Dubai puts cap on school fee hike Dhanusha Gokulan / 17 February 2014 Annual hike to be not more than 5-7% depending on performance: DEC Schools in Dubai will not be allowed more than an annual 5-7 per cent hike in fees based on performance rates awarded by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) and even when the education cost index (ECI) records high costs. The Dubai Executive Council (DEC) announced its decision on Sunday to place the school fee cap depending on the schools’ performance. An official said that the annual school fee hike must not cross the rating awarded by the KHDA based on the school’s performance evaluation index. Parents, according to the annual school fee rise cap, would only have to bear a maximum of 5-7 per cent hike annually during the over-inflation times while investors would have to bear much more than that percentage. Schools rated ‘outstanding’ shall be given a seven per cent increase, school rated ‘good’ will be given six per cent, schools rated ‘acceptable’ and ‘poor’ shall be given five per cent. These projections released by the DEC add that if the cost of education index is negative or zero, then no increase will be allowed. The education costs index is measured by gauging the operational charges paid by a school. The resolution explained that a framework would be developed to give the schools the right to apply for restructuring their fees if the inflation rates negatively impacts the profitability and development of their services. The education costs index for the year 2013 saw an increase by 1.74 per cent as compared to 2012, based on the reports released by the Dubai Statistical Centre (DSC) and the KHDA. According to Abdulla Al Shaibani, Secretary-General of DEC, the decision is aimed at keeping the vision of good education at an acceptable fee to students and guardians. “The function of the council is to adopt policies that will contribute to meeting the needs of Emiratis and residents in Dubai and increase the competitiveness of the emirate socially and economically,” he said. This decision, he said would encourage schools rated ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ to carry on by giving them better profit rates than schools rated ‘acceptable’ and ‘poor’. The cap would also help regulate the general inflation rate in the emirate by restraining the inflation on education within acceptable levels. According to the KHDA’s current fee framework, outstanding schools will be eligible for up to a 3.48 per cent raise, good schools are eligible for up to 2.61 per cent and the rest will be granted up to a 1.74 per cent rise. In a statement issued to the Press, the authority said that every school in Dubai has been directly informed of the changes by the KHDA. Some of the school authorities that Khaleej Times tried to get in touch with for a response on the decision said that they are still trying to fully understand the ruling and a detailed circular will be issues to parents and stakeholders. Staff salaries accounted for 60 per cent out of the operational charges at private schools, followed by rent, maintenance fee, and electricity and water bill, along with other factors that have been included in the calculation of the education costs index. dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Discovery Gardens gridlock to be resolved soon: RTA
Discovery Gardens gridlock to be resolved soon: RTA Staff Reporter / 17 February 2014 Authority is about to undertake further road works in the area with a view to providing two additional entries and two exits. As motorists’ frustration of being stuck in hours’ long traffic jams in Discovery Garden community at Jebel Ali reaches its peak, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) says it has held an urgent meeting with the developer Nakheel and will study temporary solutions “within a matter of days”. Residents of Discovery Gardens often get stuck in traffic for hours. — KT photo by Grace Guino In a statement to Khaleej Times on Sunday, the RTA said that it is “about to undertake further road works in the area with a view to providing two additional entries and two exits for Discovery Gardens and Ibn Battuta Mall at Interchange 5.5 on Shaikh Zayed Road and Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road.” “Works on these solutions are expected to be completed by the end of this year. These works are undertaken as part of the next five year plan that completes parallel roads in that area.” Hussain Al Banna, Director of Traffic, RTA Traffic and Roads Agency, said: “The RTA had an urgent meeting with Nakheel to work out solutions and alternatives, including streamlining functionality of light signals in the area concerned in a bid to ensure a smooth traffic flow.” On Thursday last week, heavy rain had caused a huge gridlock that lasted for hours. A resident of Discovery Gardens said the traffic jams are routine and very frustrating. “On a normal working day, it takes over 45 minutes to reach the only exit that both the communities have access to,” said the resident. “There are two schools in the area and despite the fact that traffic policemen are present everyday, we are stuck in a jam for hours.” Al Banna said the RTA is undertaking a study. “Within a matter of days, the RTA will embark on studying the provision of temporary entries and exits for the Discovery Gardens through the Shaikh Zayed Road and the Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road out of its keenness to overcome any difficulties impacting the traffic flow.” news@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
