Parents say the discounts could be better...

School promotions may be becoming the norm of late, but some parents here say they are still dissatisfied with what some schools are promoting as “beneficial discounts”.

Take Afsheen Azhar for instance. When Khaleej Times asked her if the school her children attended offered sibling discounts, she said yes. But added it was “simply useless”. “My son’s previous school offered a discount on the admission of the fifth child, not a fifth family member, it was the fifth child of the same nucleus family. Simply useless.” With her eldest now at a different school in Sharjah and her youngest just two years old, she’ll start looking at what discounts apply to him prior to enrolling him in the school.

“In my view, a sibling discount should be a minimum of 15 per cent, and it should be given from the very first sibling onwards.”

For mother-of-four, Asifa Ali, she currently gets a discount of five per cent on two of her children’s schooling fees.

“Personally, it’s not a great saving. We want and wish that all four

I’d like to see offers of at least a 25 per cent discount for the first and second child too. We are investing in the school so they should help us.”

Sumaiya Adeel, parent

of our children availed of a saving of at least 10 per cent on the total annual amount.”

Spending about Dh40,000 each year on all four children’s schooling fees, Ali said she makes a saving of just Dh2,000 per year with the current sibling discount. However, Sumaiya Adeel, whose three daughters study at the India International School, said she availed of a 50 per cent discount for her third child.

“I think that’s a really great offer. We paid the full amount for our first and second child but instead of paying Dh600 a month for our third, we now pay just Dh300.” But although she is happy with the discount, she, like many, say the offer should be valid for all siblings.

“I’d like to see offers of at least a 25 per cent discount for the first and second child too. We are investing in the school so they should help us.” kelly@khaleejtimes.com