Parents start receiving fee refund from DPS Academy
dubai — Some parents of Delhi Private School (DPS) Academy in Dubai received confirmation on Wednesday afternoon that students transferring from the school at the end of October will receive a full refund of November’s tuition fees.
Amit Singh, whose son is in Grade 7, said he received the official refund notification from the school at 12.50pm. “Help from KHDA and pressure from parents worked well to resolve the issue. I am happy with the outcome,” he told Khaleej Times.
Another parent, said: “This is all we wanted, we appreciate the efforts of DPSA in reaching such an amicable resolve.”
However not all are happy with the decision. The circular stated that only students who had applied for transfer to another school on or before October 26 would be eligible for refunds.
Pooja Purohit, who has a child in Grade 5 told Khaleej Times, it is unfair. “I submitted my application for transfer at 1.30pm on Wednesday but the school admin said they needed to speak to management as refunds will not be issued for these applications.”
She called it yet another “delaying tactic” by the school to ensure they do not pay out money. “We need time till the end of the month to make such a decision about our child’s schooling. This closure announcement was broken to us so late.”
Another parent, Tony Thomas, said it is just “one thing after another”. “If you are offering refunds, then they should apply for everyone. They sent the email about refunds at 12.50pm on Wednesday but the cut-off time for transfer applications was 12pm. It makes no sense.”
On October 17, the ICSE-curriculum school announced it would be closing in March 2017 due to “economic reasons”.
Following the announcement, more than 100 parents refused to accept admission for the new academic year into DPSA’s sister schools, DPS Sharjah and DPS Jebel Ali. But as a result, those parents wanting to transfer their children to alternative schools with immediate effect were informed they would not be eligible for tuition fee refunds for November. According to KHDA rules, if the student attends school “for a period ranging between two weeks and one month, two months’ fees will be deducted”.
This news was not received well, with many parents saying the decision to close down was “out of their hands”. Speaking to Khaleej Times on Wednesday, Dinesh Kothari confirmed that around 120 parents will get full refunds “within two weeks”.
The amounts to be refunded will range from Dh3,000 and Dh6,000.
kelly@khaleejtimes.com