Up to 50 per cent fee reduction for third term in means-tested cases.
As the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is being tackled in a united manner by the UAE government and other entities, Emirates International Schools (EIS) are stepping up to the challenge to protect their student community by ensuring no student will be deprived of an education due to financial constraints, as an increasing number of residents face salary cuts and job layoffs.
EIS is offering customised discounts on upcoming third term fees for 2020 - up to a 50 per cent reduction in special cases - following extensive consultations with staff and parents. This timely relief is set to ease financial pressure on families and improve their confidence in the security of their children's education provided by EIS.
In a few cases, school fees have also been waived for parents who provided documentation showing that their income or jobs had been direly affected. Large number of students at the two EIS schools - EIS Jumeirah and EIS Meadows, are set to benefit from the fee discounts or waivers, allowing them to continue their education unhindered in the face of economic upheavals.
EIS, the UAE's first and leading IB (International Baccalaureate) School, has consistently worked to provide both immediate and long-term relief to parents facing financial challenges, well before the coronavirus outbreak.
EIS is one of the few schools in the UAE that did not increase tuition fees - as permitted by KHDA's Education Cost Index (ECI) annually - for the current academic year 2019-20, resulting in a total of AED 4 million passed on to EIS parents.
By approaching the school management on or before 30 April, parents can avail of means-tested discounts and settle outstanding tuition fees. The re-registration deadline was extended after EIS made a decision to review the immense appeals from parents seeking fee relief measures.
In spite of the current uncertainties, EIS has also pledged to retain all of their current staff members, lending them full support until normal school operations are resumed post-COVID-19.
Amna Khalaf Al Habtoor, Director of Schools at EIS, said: "In the light of the ongoing challenging situation, with a number of our parents facing layoffs and financial exigencies, we are willing to go the extra mile and work hand in hand with them to mitigate some of their pressures. We will do what we can to support them in these unprecedented circumstances, ensuring no student is denied their education. We trust this personalised approach is more effective, allowing us to make a significant difference to the school community."
"Apart from the special third-term discounts which we are currently offering parents on a need-based roll-out, we are also providing students with devices to facilitate and ease their distance learning programme from home. We are working in tandem with our parent community to better adapt distance learning protocols to the students' needs," Al Habtoor added.
Providing unequivocal support to its teaching staff, EIS has also provided teachers with school resources, to enable their comfort while delivering distance learning classes from home.
As the UAE stands in solidarity to combat COVID-19, EIS will continue to offer sustainable and value-based fee structures, customised teaching methods and learning devices. The schools, whose students consistently beat global average scores in the IB Diploma Programme, are also working on readying its campuses to welcome students back in September 2020.