No money to pay fees, RAK students fail to join schools

ras al khaimah — While the right to education has been recognised as a human right in a number of international conventions, hundreds of students here have failed to join school this year as they are unable to afford the fees of private schools.

Sumaya Hareb Al Suwaidi, director of the Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Education Zone, said that over 460 expatriate students of different nationalities are still at home and could not go to school this academic year. “Their families are unable to pay the fees at private schools here, and hence they have failed to continue their studies.”

The Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Charitable Educational Foundation has thankfully launched a special drive to help those students and help them be registered at private schools this year, she added.

“The foundation has collected Dh450,000 in just three hours after opening door for helping those students under the ‘Lets help them’ pioneering drive.”

The charitable campaign will continue throughout the ‘Year of Zayed’ to help low-income families educate their children at private

Their families are unable to pay the fees at private schools here, and hence they have failed to continue their studies.” Sumaya Hareb Al Suwaidi, director, RAK Education Zone

schools, she pointed out.

“The foundation is already supervising four charity schools which are overcrowded with 1,750 students of different grades and cannot accept more students.”

All the cases registered with the foundation are of low-income families whose monthly salaries are below Dh3,000 or of the parents who have to support a big number of children, she explained. “The families that cannot pay school fees because of their debts are also supported.”

Al Suwaidi said that expatriate students need to meet a score of 85 per cent in some subjects to remain enrolled in government schools.

“However, the RAK Education Zone has referred a list of the students who have not met the due scores to the Ministry of Education to be exempted from this condition, considering the financial conditions of their families.”

“The students living at remote areas, where no private schools are available, are also included in this exception.”