How to get school fee discount when one cant afford after loosing job | ExpatWoman.com
 

How to get school fee discount when one cant afford after loosing job

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 11:15

Hi,
My daughter goes to a big non-profitable British school in Dubai. We have been paying her fee on time but I lost job and because my husband is self-employed this economic downturn is really hurting his business which is making it bit difficult for us to pay school fee. How one can get school fee discount I don't want to withdraw my daughter from school because getting admission in that school will be very difficult in future.
I am pregnant too and I afraid that for few month I won't be able to work and help my husband to run the house. Kindly suggest me the way to approach school and will it really work if I contact school. How does school helps usually in these situation. I am sure I am not alone here all answers will be really helpful for many of us. Thanks in advance.

Cheers

298
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 February 2016 - 10:27
I know that our British non-profit school made some concessions for existing pupils during the last economic downturn. Certainly worth speaking to the school, though I doubt that there are any official policies or formal methods of approach.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 10 February 2016 - 12:15
Another option, and much less risky, is to homeschool. There are quite a few threads here from mums who homeschool and had a positive experience. As another poster said, be careful of getting into debt since fees do have to get paid eventually. Here there is no sympathy for late payments. Well, this may not really be an option because if she intends to put her child back into a brick and mortar school in Dubai, it [u'>may[/u'> look like the child "dropped out" mid year. KHDA doesn't recognize homeschooling except through K12/iCademy which is a US-based curriculum. Even if OP does try K12, I'm still not sure a transfer will be allowed because of the January cutoff. Transferring from UK to US curriculum is easy enough (based on discussions I've had with 2 admissions officers in Dubai), but transferring back from US to UK curriculum may cause issues. This is because of the 12 grades vs 13 years structure of the curricula. Again, this is all speculation because we all know how even hardline policies can sometimes be bypassed.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 10 February 2016 - 09:54
Another option, and much less risky, is to homeschool. There are quite a few threads here from mums who homeschool and had a positive experience. As another poster said, be careful of getting into debt since fees do have to get paid eventually. Here there is no sympathy for late payments.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 10 February 2016 - 08:01
I agree with Countess Wrinkle and loving the sun, and others who suggested discussing flexible payment options with the school . Good luck to you and the rest of the family. I know it is a very stressful time, but everything will work out.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 22:35
No harm in trying to see if you can make payment monthly rather than in one go, some schools will allow this. Although I would urge you to seriously look into your financial situation and the future and be very careful about getting into any debt. School fees will have to be paid at some point, so think long term as well. Have you thought about yourself and your child returning to your home country and your DH staying here, downsizing and seeing if he can ride out this low period? This would hopefully (depending on home country) reduce overheads for now. Hopefully your child is not in exam years. Or consider home schooling for a bit? No school is worth getting into debt for. I agree. Talk to the school first and also explore other options. If they are in exam years then it does become much more difficult which would make it even more important. Another suggestion is, perhaps you could offer to work at the school in some capacity if you don't already work? It might help?
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 22:16
I don't think you can even move to another school mid-year at this point...isn't the cut off in January? I understand it's extenuating circumstances, so KHDA may be more flexible but generally speaking lower-fee schools with average to great education offerings are already oversubscribed. The only thing I can think of is to ask if your personal debenture can be converted to offset the cost of the school fees. This is assuming, of course, that this school collects debentures like other non-profit schools do. If you your situation still hasn't improved by June/July, you'd probably be looking to either move schools anyway or leave the country. They would have had to return that money at that point anyways...this way it kind of helps ease your burden in the interim and still doesn't "hurt" the school in it's fee collection. If your situation does improve, then return the personal debenture to the school and continue with your child enrolled. This way it has the least affect on your daughter...she is the person that is impacted the most and has no control over your family finances. Good luck OP, I hope the school understands what you are going through and supports you in what is already a hard time for your family.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 21:52
No harm in trying to see if you can make payment monthly rather than in one go, some schools will allow this. Although I would urge you to seriously look into your financial situation and the future and be very careful about getting into any debt. School fees will have to be paid at some point, so think long term as well. Have you thought about yourself and your child returning to your home country and your DH staying here, downsizing and seeing if he can ride out this low period? This would hopefully (depending on home country) reduce overheads for now. Hopefully your child is not in exam years. Or consider home schooling for a bit? No school is worth getting into debt for.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 21:33
Good education in Dubai is super costly. Period. Seems like a brave idea to ask (a good one) but realistically speaking I don't think it'll help. It may just though, you never know. All the best! Your best bet is to look for schools that are highly rated and cost less.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 20:20
I think you're absolutely right to try. Who cares about other people in this situation? What you're trying to do is protect your child from the upheaval of moving school, changing friends, disruption to studies. It's heartbreaking. We may be in this position soon ourselves and I'll be asking the school to consider a discount. The very best of luck to you.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 19:17
Sorry, but why should the school give you a discount when so many of us are struggling ? Best advise is to move to a cheaper school or consider returning to your home country.. sorry, hope you can find a solution..by all means ask the school...those who don't ask don't get !! lol I somehow agree, been going through hardship in Dubai before and had to downsize in more ways than one, there will be people out there sending their children to a way cheaper school and it seems unfair for someone to get a discount on a better school.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 18:19
If you find yourself forced to consider other schools, Kings School Al Barsha allow monthly payments. And it's a fantastic school. But its 70k dirhams ... not exactly a budget choice!
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 17:00
Sorry, but why should the school give you a discount when so many of us are struggling ? Best advise is to move to a cheaper school or consider returning to your home country.. sorry, hope you can find a solution..by all means ask the school...those who don't ask don't get !! lol
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 16:39
I'm sorry but you won't get anywhere with your plea, schools here are all about money and not compassion. why would they give you discounts and not another person. If I were you i would look into another school with a budget that would fit yours and not waste time talking to the school. You not wanting to get her out of school because of the waiting list is not a justifiable reason to be honest. you are right a lot of people are in your shoes, and because of this they look at schools with good ratings and low fees. goodluck
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 14:59
If you find yourself forced to consider other schools, Kings School Al Barsha allow monthly payments. And it's a fantastic school.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 14:35
I know some schools lets you pay the fee monthly, that might help a bit.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 13:52
Hi I know paying a terms fees all at once can put a strain on your wallet :( As HorizonMum2 said, incase asking for a discount doesnt work, it might be best to move your child out of the school into a less expensive school, until things smooth out. As just as an fyi, GEMS schools have a GEMS credit card with NBAD, where you can pay the fees through the card, and then turn into 12 month interest free installments. So if you pay 12000 per term for example, it would spread out to 1000 per month (until of course next term you use it again and your amount due would become 2000 per month) but it sure beats paying 12,000 at once. Also you get 7% discount if you pay the fees for the school year in advance. If you do consider applying, they require a salary certificate which you wont be able to provide, but hopefully your husbands ban account statement will suffice. There's a thread about the card here: http://www.expatwoman.com/forum/topic201766-nbad-credit-for-gems-schools-forum23.aspx Good luck and keep us posted!
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 12:57
Thanks for your reply I will definitely speak to the headteacher or head accountant who can put forward and consider our case
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 09 February 2016 - 11:38
the best thing to do would be to book a meeting directly with the school principal/head and explain your situation... be sure to mention points like: - how long you have been at school - how you have made all payments on time so far and then state exactly what you are looking for: - discount on fees for terms 2 &3 of this academic term (and perhaps term 1 of the next academic term) the school is not obliged to do this for you but they might consider it on compassionate grounds... you can only hope to appeal to their goodwill! alternatively, also keep in mind that realistically dubai does look like its headed for another recession... even the government themselves seem to be downsizing departments and outsourcing roles (as per the Gulf News)... so as tough as it might be you should probably look at the situation realistically and consider shifting her to a British curriculum school with lower fees (some of the other ones such as Al Diyafah, StMarys, Cambridge, Dubai Gem) all only have annual schools fees in the range of 11K-15K mark.
 
 

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