Despite the ongoing concern about rising school fees among parents in Dubai, many are still prepared to spend extra on co-curricular activities (CCAs), with some paying as much as Dh12,000 per term.
Although tuition fees are often viewed as a financial burden, it appears that extracurricular activities (ECAs) are highly valued, with parents willing to pay whatever it takes.
These expenses vary based on whether children engage in these activities professionally or recreationally.
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Khaleej Times reached out to a cross-section of parents in Dubai who reiterated that these activities enhance cognitive abilities, improve concentration, and teach discipline, which can even translate into better grades and academic achievement.
Professional co-curricular activity
UAE citizen Malak AlFarsi is steadfast in her dedication to helping her 13-year-old daughter Lamia Tariq Malallah reach the highest level in rhythmic gymnastics — the Youth Olympics.
“Every day after school, Lamia trains for four hours. She should be doing at least four to six hours actually,” said her mother Malak. “I pick her up from school, and from 4.30pm till 8.30pm or 8.45pm she is training. She falls asleep in the car on our way home and then at 6am she wakes up and goes to school,” said AlFarsi.
The Emirati girl started her journey at the age of five. Most recently, she bagged the gold medal at the Gymnastika Solo Cup in Dubai that drew some of the best gymnasts from Europe, with Russia and Belarus sending their national teams.
Sharing Lamia’s schedule, Malak added, “On Saturdays, she trains for five hours from 10.30am to 3.30pm. On Sundays, she has online training. Somebody from Russia trains her. When you are looking at professional athletes, then your form has to be different. Rhythmic gymnastics is a very specialised sport.”
CCAs are expensive so consistent focus on one activity is required.
“Rhythmic gymnastics is a very expensive sport as compared to other sports. You are charged hourly, and you are charged a block term fee. Per term, a parent could spend Dh10,000-12,000 which is for three to four months. These are competitive sports, not recreational,” added AlFarsi.
“However, if it is recreational, the fee is much cheaper. If one is training twice or thrice a week, then it will cost around Dh4,500 per term,” she said.
The Emirati mother also emphasised that parents should identify what their child is really interested in and focus accordingly. She said if parents fail to do so, they end up spending a lot of money on various activities with the child eventually losing interest after a couple of terms, and the money getting wasted.
“My younger daughter Leanne, who is 10, does piano three times a week, and per hour it costs around Dh200-250. She is not really interested in gymnastics. She is also more academically inclined. Additionally, I’ve enrolled her in online coding classes with an instructor based out of India. I spend around Dh80 per hour on that. Therefore, I feel children benefit more from consistent focus on one activity. Otherwise, there’s a risk of losing interest and wasting resources,” AlFarsi said.
Recreational co-curricular activity
Similarly, Indian expatriate Neha Bhagwat’s two school-aged children are also involved in different co-curricular activities.
Abir, her elder son, currently in Year 7, participates in weekly tennis sessions and art lessons. Sahir, her younger son in Year 3, is actively engaged in football training, attending three sessions per week.
Bhagwat said, “Co-curricular activities play a significant role in the holistic development of children, These activities help students develop a range of skills that are not typically covered in the classroom, such as leadership, teamwork, time management, and problem-solving. I spend Dh10,000 annually on their CCAs. It’s Dh5,000 for each of them. But this does not include summer classes, as the term for these CCAs end with the start of the summer and winter breaks. So, holiday camps are separate.”
She emphasised that due to their busy work schedules during the week, both she and her husband have arranged for a driver to handle transportation in the evenings while they’re at the office.
This driver ensures that their children are safely dropped off and picked up from their extracurricular activities according to their schedules.
“We have a driver who picks them up from home and then drops them back home as we are both at work on weekdays. So, he charges another Dh6,000 cumulatively for a year. Overall all these activities and transportation turn out to be pretty expensive,” added the Indian expat.
Extracurricular activities can also be done during school hours for an additional fee. Natalia Miranda, American expat in Dubai, says her son does these ECAs.
However, unlike others, he partakes in school ECAs that are offered to parents for an additional fee.
“My son goes to Arcadia School and he learns ukulele (small guitar) twice during the school time. This costs us around Dh1,000 extra per term, above the tuition fees. The class is only 30 minutes. These classes are honestly expensive. With that said, there is really a good amount of different types of activities for any child here. It’s all done by professionally trained instructors,” said Miranda.