Dubai Forums Dubai Discussions Dubai General Chat

After GEMS group managed Modern High School, Dubai and Indian High School Abudhabi, parents of Our Own English School Sharjah (OOES-SHJ) have also joined hands to protest steep hike in transportation fees in the name of outsourcing and have called for support from all GEMS Group managed schools across the UAE.

Our Own English School Sharjah (OOES-SHJ) recently decided to outsource their bus transportation services. The school sent parents a circular claiming that transportation charges had increased from Dh 150 to Dh 300 per month. The 100 per cent hike has angered many parents. The parents said they felt that the attempt and subsequent process to outsource an existing facility was a clever marketing ploy to extract money from parents.

Upon contacting, one of the parents stated in angry tone that the transport company is also owned by the group owning the school. The whole plot has been planned in an organized manner to fool all parents as the website of this transport company clearly says it is registered only last year June 2008. Assuming if it is not their own company how can they outsource to one year new company when there are many other professional transport companies?

One more parent furiously retorted “Such reputed educational institutions should not loot parents like this in the name of School Fees and Activities Fees in advance without proper breakup, and now this transportation hike, how do we parents manage this whole issue, best is to storm into schools and ask for breakup of each and every amount they collect against the actual cost incurred by them”.

In view of the current financial crisis this move has certainly sparked the criticism and has ignited anger among enraged parents crushed under the current meltdown and ignorance from the concerned authorities is adding woes to these disgruntled parents.

After receiving several nominations for participation the parents have decided to have a general meeting about the above said matter as below:

Venue: Near LOULOU Beach Resort Ground, Ahead of Sharjah Grand Hotel, Sharjah port/beach road.
Date: 20 MAR 09, Friday.
Time: 05:00 p.m. onwards

When the price of petrol go up by 0.01 fils these are the same people who start b!tchin. But when schools who also happen to use vechiles using gas and diesel hike the price they go into a mad frenzy. I remember in early 80's my school charged 150 and then later 200dhs for the bus. Now almost 30 years later I was actually shocked to see that price hasn't changed. Have they though how much it cost to run a bus ? Do the math

150 per student x 25 seats on a small bus = 7500

Cost of bus, really dont know but I'm sure they must pay atleast 3000 installment on it. Plus atleast 100 to 150 diesel ( 12 dhms per gallon ) plus atleast 2000dh salary for the bus driver and atleast 1000 or 1500 for a conductor if they have one plus other maintaince. So how can you say they are making huge profits in it. But then they might say they use the bigger bus, but with the bigger buses comes more expenses, more fuel bigger installments.

If it is such a problem get your lazy @ss up half an hour early and drop your brats to school yourself. Carpool or get a driver. The school is not obligated to provide transport its just an addtional service they provide and have a full right to make a profit on it

I understood the hue and cry about the tution fees but this is ridiculous !

P.S : Yes some might have guessed I don't have any children

LOL. . .

It's a bunch of angered cheap-o subcontinent expats crying fowl over an increase in ancillary costs of sending their children to school.

Besides those schools cater for those types of expats in particular.

10 dirhams says this poll and thread will not get any attention here nor in alloexpat where it should have aptly been posted.

Wait. . . would 10 dirhams be a bit too much of an uncalculated risk dear cheapo parent from pune, mangalore, hyderabad, lahore?

godsent wrote:LOL. . .

It's a bunch of angered cheap-o subcontinent expats crying fowl over an increase in ancillary costs of sending their children to school.

Besides those schools cater for those types of expats in particular.

10 dirhams says this poll and thread will not get any attention here nor in alloexpat where it should have aptly been posted.

Wait. . . would 10 dirhams be a bit too much of an uncalculated risk dear cheapo parent from pune, mangalore, hyderabad, lahore?

Leaving beside the protests part, your attitude towards them is sickening..
i guess these are normal hardworking ppl coming frm some not so previliged countries like yours and not "godsent" like u..but they are very much withinn their rights to raise their voice, if they feel tht something wrong is being done towards them...

As it doesn't affect you, just shut the **** up n focus on your own thngs..rather than passing on such frivolous comments..

have a grt day..

I think DesertdudeShj gave a very decent accounting breakdown. Read his post.

Hence my sarcasm, as many expats from the subcontinent are highly price conscious to the extent of being scraping miserly. And this is not because they are not earning well, trust me many are, but the small town mentality prevails.

So I decided to write something humorous. Are you one of them Uncles from Mangalore with two kids and a 20k dirhams salary with school fees paid for but raise an alarm when another 150 dirhams is taken out of ur pocket ?

xdude wrote:

godsent wrote:LOL. . .

It's a bunch of angered cheap-o subcontinent expats crying fowl over an increase in ancillary costs of sending their children to school.

Besides those schools cater for those types of expats in particular.

10 dirhams says this poll and thread will not get any attention here nor in alloexpat where it should have aptly been posted.

Wait. . . would 10 dirhams be a bit too much of an uncalculated risk dear cheapo parent from pune, mangalore, hyderabad, lahore?

Leaving beside the protests part, your attitude towards them is sickening..
i guess these are normal hardworking ppl coming frm some not so previliged countries like yours and not "godsent" like u..but they are very much withinn their rights to raise their voice, if they feel tht something wrong is being done towards them...

As it doesn't affect you, just shut the **** up n focus on your own thngs..rather than passing on such frivolous comments..

have a grt day..

Well said. Not everyone here is lucky enough to have free villas and free expensive schooling just for the colour of their skin.

godsent wrote:I think DesertdudeShj gave a very decent accounting breakdown. Read his post.

Hence my sarcasm, as many expats from the subcontinent are highly price conscious to the extent of being scraping miserly. And this is not because they are not earning well, trust me many are, but the small town mentality prevails.

So I decided to write something humorous. Are you one of them Uncles from Mangalore with two kids and a 20k dirhams salary with school fees paid for but raise an alarm when another 150 dirhams is taken out of ur pocket ?

sarcastic n humorous?? cut the crap mate..
your are outrightly racist..
but wouldn't blame you as thts the way you have been brought up..

don't bother to respond.. at least i've ot better things to do than wasting my time on ppl like u..

@ XDude

You cannot brandish someone as an outright racist and then advice them not to respond. It shows your lack of tact, etiquette and one-sided view in debating and commenting albeit done casually over a forum.

My writings were very factual in the sense that even folks from the subcontinent would not argue that when small town folks from the subcontinent go overseas they get claustrophobic with the escalated prices of everything and stinge on anything. Ask a well to do person from Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore what they think of pune, Mangalore, Hyderabad and you will see their sentiments. (Not too familiar about Pakistan and Bangladesh as I have briefly visited the former for a couple of days only and thus will omit those out from my example)

On the other spectrum, open up Ahlan Top 100 and see subcontinent folk balling with Maybachs and multi million conglomerates, opening champagne bottles at Peppermint or having grey goose and Cristal at Atlantis on new years.

The fact remains the predominant amount of cheapo-s from the sub continent in Dubai come from small towns and the villas that you see lighted up to the maximum during Diwali so that martians can see them from outer space, would predominantly belong to folks from the subcontinent who come from big cities in their specific country such as Mumbai, Delhi, etc.

Would you like to refute that?

Besides if you bothered to read deserdudeshj statement, “I remember in early 80's my school charged 150 and then later 200dhs for the bus. Now almost 30 years later I was actually shocked to see that price hasn't changed. Have they though how much it cost to run a bus ? Do the math"you will realise that it’s not to gloomy a picture after all.

Do you feel me one track mind. Or hang on . . . let me take a page from your book . . . don’t bother writing back I’ve better things to do than wasting my time on ppl like u..

godsent wrote: Wait. . . would 10 dirhams be a bit too much of an uncalculated risk dear cheapo parent from pune, mangalore, hyderabad, lahore?

HEY ! I resent that I'm,... well my parents are kinda from Lahore ( well small village near it ) I've been in the emirates since I was 6 months old so I guess I'm kinda from here?! ( Confused Desi Dude )

Well I agree with the small town mentality. New comers I think come with a inbuilt calculator as they constantlykeep on converting Dirhams into Rupees upon seeing any prices atleast for the first couple of years anyway

"wait a minute, how much does that cost...10 Dhs ! wait 1dh is equal to a billion rupees so 10 dhs would be.......gasp ! 10 billion ruoees. NO THANKS sir...I will just tell my cousin who is comming from bhopal next week to get one for me ! "

These are the same Sunny Driving moustached folk who do quite well finacially but refuse to spend an extra dirham from the absolute bare minimum. All the while pumping money back home buying huge coconuts and banana plantations. And after 20 years in the gulf they die from exhaustion here and some greedy relative back home takes over all the coconuts and bananas !!!

It is tiresome with the racist battle on almost every matter on this site.

These parents are suffering by the cost increase in Dubai, as everybody else. They have the right to fight this as hard as they can. It’s been long since schools in UAE stopped being educational centers.

They are pure business and the nasty sort. The greedy owners are almost worse than the greedy landlords. It’s not only Asians but all parents suffering from exorbitant school fees. It’s obvious the parents will stop at no expense to educate their children. But there is a line, and this line has been crossed by almost every business in UAE.

Cost is one thing and extortion another.

Tell me Bezor, what isn't a bussiness these days. What "noble" professions are left these days. Do you think hospitals open up to serve humanity ? Schools open to provide education to the masses...NOT !

Its all a bussiness these days. Plus having to pay 100 or 150 more per month is really not that much even if you don't earn that much. And the real cost sensitive parents transport their children themselves. Only the Lazy @ss don't. Maybe 1 in hundred are people who really can't transport their children themselves and another 100 or 150 does dent their pocket

But think about it what is the real value of a 100dh note in Dubai nowadays ? A 100dhs really doesn't get you far nowadays. Its really not much.

Point : They energy they put into all that B!tchin if they put into something productive they would make double that easy

Yes desertdudeshj, everything is business, and I guess that’s the wrong part of the equation. I’m not defending lazy people or complaining about marginal increases of fees. The thing wrong with UAE is the extortionate prices. Every business prices you to the very last Dirham, if you have it.

If you see what the salary of the teachers and others working in a school is and the fees compared to other countries, you feel like being robbed. That’s the irritating part, and there is no regulations to stop these extortions.

It’s like the house prices. You know who build them and for what salaries. Still they cost double if not triple compared to US and EU.

You should know, there are schools in other countries, both state and private. And they are run according to laws. They don’t let owners increase cost on a yearly base and to these kind of %.

Look at the hotels, and it’s not only because of recession. This started 2 years ago. I know cause I come to Dubai 3 times a year (and stay for 2 months) Word got around that Dubai is expensive beyond reason. Once you ruined the reputation, it’s very hard and takes a lot to restore it.

gtmash wrote:

xdude wrote:

godsent wrote:LOL. . .

It's a bunch of angered cheap-o subcontinent expats crying fowl over an increase in ancillary costs of sending their children to school.

Besides those schools cater for those types of expats in particular.

10 dirhams says this poll and thread will not get any attention here nor in alloexpat where it should have aptly been posted.

Wait. . . would 10 dirhams be a bit too much of an uncalculated risk dear cheapo parent from pune, mangalore, hyderabad, lahore?

Leaving beside the protests part, your attitude towards them is sickening..
i guess these are normal hardworking ppl coming frm some not so previliged countries like yours and not "godsent" like u..but they are very much withinn their rights to raise their voice, if they feel tht something wrong is being done towards them...

As it doesn't affect you, just shut the **** up n focus on your own thngs..rather than passing on such frivolous comments..

have a grt day..

Well said. Not everyone here is lucky enough to have free villas and free expensive schooling just for the colour of their skin.

So now you are feeling free to be racist as well? My husband's company was giving the same work package to its employees (including housing and schooling allowance) no matter what their skin colour. The job grade was what determined the amount of salary and benefits received. There are plenty of people with various skin colours benefiting from subsidized housing and schooling.

sorry, double post

My friends were complaining about 40% or more school fee hikes occurring every year over the past few years. The schools must be transparent and show exactly why the increases are happening and what alternatives they have looked into to keep the costs low.

Issue is somewhere else and not just with AED 150 or 300 a month. The issue is with overall expense to educate your kid at the best possible a parent can afford. When you set aside a sum and find that budget has been exceeded by 25%, then every extra 100 dirham starts to pinch. You are looking that as just 100 dirham, but it is extra 100 sitting on top of the other expenses.

Also I believe its better to be careful with expenses than blow it all to have no cover for rainy day. I had followed a 30% saving every month ... since 2003. Though, i consider myself lucky as invested in stocks and could retire with huge pile coming in interests. I am doing my bit though for the workers here who have built to Dubai city, yet get pulled around every where. You can not give anything back to the society, but do not make fun of the people who are not privaleged as yourself.

All this just harms oneself and reduced our own immune system to fit diseases. I could be totally wrong, but the highest number of cancer patients are the ones that have mentally or physically harmed fellow humans. Maybe there is a God above us all.

Live and Let live. If you are offended by somebody's behaviour, teach them. Mahatma Gandhi was able to throw mighty British empire by nothing but peace. To top that it feels great to give and help somebody. That feeling can never be described, but can be felt.

well said mr. worldguy! a very decent, sober yet effective message! a civilised person will be tolerant and respect other people irrespective of their wealth, race, status or any other such outward measures. such cheap comments only show the hidden barbaric face of these people.

honestly i as a parent have no issues with the hiking fee Alhamdulillah. and no one has the right to judge parents from mangalore, hyderabad or lahore. to each his own. respect others difference of opinions or thoughts. not everyone is born rich or has family money to flaunt. and noone has the right to call others children "brats" its just downright immature. money cant buy you manners, morals and integrity! you learn that at home....

with that being said i would just say no matter how much you schools charge, learn to be respectful towards parents. i have honestly tolerated bad attitude from the lower and reception staff of my child's school. really bad informal attitude. im gonna meet the principal tomorrow. my child is in FS1 there AND i have to wait at the school reception till 12 because i have no conveyance to go back home. and you cant even use the pantry just once for tea. the only polite thing to do when i and a few other mothers asked to use the pantry was to say 'please help yourself'. bot saying 'oh there is a grocery across the street and you can get food from there' is downright obnoxious and rude. we know where the groceries are we r sitting here in school and you should be at least decent enough to know how to respond appropriately. for gods sake some of us wait there from 7:30 am till 12 noon. have some humanity