Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has admitted that some private schools in the UAE have become “over-commercialised”.

KHDA chair Dr Abdullah Al Karam also reiterated his stance that the school fee hikes that have become commonplace over the last few years, are not justified in 2010.

“According to our records as a regulator, for the last three years, the schools increased their fees by an average of eight percent – just the tuition,” Al Karam

Pricey school fees and high teacher turnover are driving a spike in applications from UAE pupils to private schools in the UK, a British education consultancy has said.

Parents based in the UAE are considering UK boarding schools over local private schools as economic insecurities price them out of the market, as stated by spokesperson of Sue Anderson Consultants (SAC), a firm that works with overseas families to place pupils in UK schools.

“The schools are good [in the UAE] but they get full. There is the issue of waiting lists. And the prices definitely play a role,” she said speaking on the sidelines of an education event in Dubai.

Hamid al-Qatami, Minister of Education, confirmed that a total of 50 initiatives would be introduced within the new framework to be completed by 2020.

The performance of teachers will be evaluated with training programmes set up for each individual. Incentive systems will also be introduced which will be linked to performance.