The Ministry of Education has warned parents against enrolling their children in unaccredited home schooling or online school programmes.
The UAE closed schools and universities across the country in March to prevent the spread of Covid-19, offering e-learning to pupils instead.
While the decision was made in the interest of public health, it placed more responsibility on parents to supervise their children and ensure they were completing their school tasks at home. That, coupled with financial constraints caused by the impact of coronavirus on the economy, led to many parents calling for reduced tuition fees. Some even began to consider pulling their children out of schools and enrolling them in established online schools or home schooling them instead.
Local schools have responded to this by saying any pupil that does not complete the academic year through e-learning will not be eligible to proceed to the next grade.
On Monday, the ministry warned parents not to be drawn in by cheaper fees lest their children's diplomas not be recognised locally.
"Parents should be aware not to be driven by offers to enrol their children in international schools outside the UAE, or to pursue distance studies via their interactive educational platforms for a low tuition fee, in case student certificates are not accepted and approved by the ministry," it said on Twitter.
The UAE's education authorities have yet to decide how pupils would be taught next term after three months of distance learning due to the virus outbreak. Schools across the country have said they are preparing for e-learning to carry on to August and possibly into 2021.
Parents previously told The National they were considering teaching their young children a basic curricula themselves, rather than pay as much as Dh60,000 per year in primary school fees.
While homeschooling and forms of parent-taught online education has gained popularity, the vast majority of parents in the UAE send their children to brick and mortar schools. More than one million children attend 1,262 private and public schools, and only a handful of parents opt for to teach their children at home.
Critics of homeschooling claim the quality of the education taught by parents may vary considerably, and that in some cases forms of abuse that could have been spotted by a teacher could go unnoticed.
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
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Financial considerations before buying a property
Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.
“If it’s a rental property, plan for the property to have periods when it does not have a tenant. Ensure you have enough cash set aside to pay the mortgage and other costs during these periods, ideally at least six months,” she says.
Also, shop around for the best mortgage interest rate. Understand the terms and conditions, especially what happens after any introductory periods, Ms Glynn adds.
Using a good mortgage broker is worth the investment to obtain the best rate available for a buyer’s needs and circumstances. A good mortgage broker will help the buyer understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and make the purchasing process efficient and easier.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
