News analysis: Record 21 new schools for Dubai in 2016

Dubai's private school sector is set to welcome 21 new schools during the 2016/2017 academic year, Knowledge and Human Development Authority's (KHDA) director general Dr Abdulla Al Karam announced during the International and Private Schools Education Forum.

This marks a significant increase from the seven schools — including Hartland International, Dubai British School Jumeirah Park, and the Swiss International Scientific School, among others — that opened in September this year.
Currently, 87% of the total seats available in Dubai's private schools are occupied by students. Around 35,000 of these students travel from the neighbouring emirates due to the improved facilities offered by Dubai private schools.

When asked whether 21 new schools would lead to an oversupply in the market, Al Karam urged investors and operators to identify a niche and offer something "unique" for students.

"We have targets for 2020 and beyond, and those who have doubts keep asking whether it's too many. We say surely not. It depends where you're coming from. If you come with a standard school operation, yes, it is a crowded space and you expect that from a maturing market. But you don't need to compete in that existing market space; you need to create your own new space in that marketplace. Our message to the operator is to look at uniqueness and that is what Dubai needs at this point, because now parents more than any other time have choices.

"We keep adding seats, and we keep adding good seats. I think it's time to add unique seats and that's what the parents are looking for."

Gems Education group executive director and board member Dino Varkey also points to the rate of growth in enrolments at Dubai schools.

"Dubai and the UAE continue to grow — if you look at the last three years in terms of private school student enrolment, we had 7.1% growth, 8.7%, and over 10% respectively. It's been an accelerating rate of growth, so I think there will be more than enough demand."

Some operators, however, like Taaleem — which has 9000 students enrolled across 11 schools — are taking a more guarded approach to expansion.

Director of communications Clive Pierrepont says: "We have not planned to open new schools in 2016 as we predicted an oversupply situation in the market for premium schools; however, we have several projects in the pipeline for future years."

He also cautions against setting ambitious targets and expecting quick returns.

"Newcomers to the market must be wary of making financial commitments that promise quick returns to their investors. To treat a new school as an empty box, to fill up as quickly as possible, is a recipe for an educational disaster. I am aware that several of the high-end schools that have opened recently are struggling to meet their enrolment and financial commitments."

Some of the new schools set to open next year include Wellington College and Kent College — both of which will set up branch campuses in Dubai.

Also set to open next year is Gems Nations Academy, which will offer an enhanced American curriculum, and will be the flagship school for the operator.

Another school, this time from school operator Scholars International Group (SIG) — which operates Dubai Scholars Private School and Scholars International Academy — will bring New York City's Bank Street College of Education's progressive curriculum framework to Dubai.

All the schools mentioned above aim to fill a niche in the market, which also translates to a premium fee structure. At Gems Nations Academy, fees will begin at AED 84,000 (US $22,876) per year for KG1 and go up to AED 118,000($32,135) for Grade 5-8. Similarly, fees at SIG's new school will range from AED 40,000 ($10,893) to AED 72,000 ($19,608) from pre-KG to Grade 2.

Are these fees, then, an indication of what to expect when a diversified curriculum is offered? KHDA's executive director of education Kalthoom AlBalooshi does not believe that is the case.

She reveals: "If you look at the current numbers, 39% of our students are paying less than AED10,000 per year at private schools in Dubai."

AlBalooshi also reveals that the 21 schools next year will charge between AED 10,725 ($2921) to more than AED 100,000 ($27,236) in fees, which means an average might be difficult and not representative of the entire landscape.

While some may disagree on the need for 21 new schools, school operators are unanimous on the benefit of competition, stating, in fact, that they welcome it.

Pierrepont says "It is great that parents have choice; competition is good for any market, and especially ours. We believe that with our portfolio of 11 schools, several of which have been open for a decade, we have established a strong reputation for academic excellence within both local and international communities.

Varkey adds: "Competition is a wonderful thing — it forces every provider to ensure that what they provide to families is the best it can be. The facilities, resources, the curriculum and the programme itself, the quality of the faculty — those are all key components of choice that a parent will make a decision on. I would argue that we will be better than our competitive set."

SIG's new school is also confident its Bank Street curriculum is a strong USP for parents. The school's principal, Dr Kandace Williams says: "Our standards are aligned to NY State Standards including the Common Core +15. The curriculum has been developed to ensure that learning is relevant, engaging, challenging and ultimately meaningful to a child. Our school, when fully built, will accommodate up to 1452 students in grades Pre-K to Grade 12 (including the IB Diploma Programme). We are approaching the school in a phased approach so we can maintain the integrity of our programme and school culture.

In addition to competing with other schools for enrolments, the new schools will also have to work hard on recruiting the right teaching staff — an issue that poses its own challenges.

Eteach International managing director Jonathan Price explains: "The highest proportion of international schools in the Middle East follow the UK curriculum, and there is an expectation from the stakeholders — mainly parents — that the person delivering the curriculum should therefore be associated with that country.

"The UK has a teacher shortfall. The highest number of teachers — 50,000 — have left the profession in one calendar year; this is also the highest number since records began. The UK is looking elsewhere to meet the demand for teachers. Add to this the draw of attractive packages in certain schools in the Middle east and further afield and you have the recipe for the perfect storm".

Additionally, Price also believes that not all schools — new and existing — will be able to compete with the potential salaries that some of the new schools may offer, which means they will need to invest in their staff in other ways.

"Staff need to feel that they are part of the decision making process of a school. Engagement is key. Investing in professional development and actually allowing staff to be responsible for their own initiatives is extremely important. Schools need to value the teachers that they have and develop retention schemes. Schools that have had a higher than average turnover of staff will find it difficult to attract new teachers. Social media can play a huge part in how a school is perceived by future employees," he adds.

Retaining staff is also a priority for Taalem. Pierrepont reveals: "This year we have committed to a large investment in our teachers as the sourcing of suitable accommodation for them has often been a challenge. We are building, in a prime location, a high quality, 160+ one-, two- and three-bedroom apartment complex, with leisure facilities and amenities. This complex will be available in July 2016; we trust that by making this investment for our teachers we will be able to attract and retain some of the world's best educators who in turn will help drive our future development and growth."

Al Kalam believes the quality of the curriculum and the teaching staff will play the biggest role in the success of new and existing schools. "This is a model that is mainly driven by investors. We worked with those investors who want to bring these schools for the right reasons," he states.