DUBAI // The parents of a five-year-old boy who say they have spent thousands of dirhams in assessment fees are questioning the value of school entry exams and the emotional impact the tests can have on young children.
R J, a small-business owner from the UK, who lives with his wife F A and son G J in Dubai, said he has spent Dh4,500 in assessment fees alone over the past two years while trying to find a place for his son.
Most recently, he paid Dh1,000 at Kings’ School Al Barsha, where he and his wife were eager to transfer their son at the recommendation of friends.
After meeting staff and going on a tour of the new facilities, the couple was convinced the school was the right choice.
“We got mesmerised and we thought, ‘Yes, this is the school for our son’,” R J said.
After the tour, R J said his son was led into a room with other prospective pupils to be assessed by staff members behind closed doors. About 25 minutes later, the group came out and the administrators said the parents would soon be notified of the results.
“Then two weeks later we got an email saying sorry he does not meet our minimum requirements in the assessment and therefore we cannot offer him a place,” said the father.
“The whole thing doesn’t add up to me – based on a 25-minute assessment you reject a five-year-old little boy? It’s ridiculous.”
The boy’s mother, F A, said the experience was upsetting for the boy.
“When I picked him up from school, I said ‘you were not accepted in Kings’,’ he started crying saying, ‘No, I want to go to Kings’.
“I really was upset because maybe this is the only time he want and he saw his friends there, that’s why it made him feel so sad,” said the mother.
R J said schools should at least be required to provide parents with a written report detailing the assessed pupils’ performance if not refund the fees altogether.
“Tell us what went wrong, we paid for this. We can help our child. What happened in that 25 minutes that made you reject him from the school?” he said.
“Be honest with people. Tell them what you’re going to assess them for. If you’re going to make assessments and I don’t believe we should be paying fees for something we may or may not get. It’s like buying a lottery ticket.”
F A said children should not be assessed at such a young age.
“It’s too early for them. If it was A-levels, OK, then assess, but not five-year-olds.”
Kings’ Education said it would o’t comment on an individual case through the media.
“We are very happy to meet with parents to discuss if they wish,” read a statement from the school issued to The National.
“We believe our admissions and assessments processes are transparent, with our admissions policy posted on our website. As a matter of course, we do not prepare full reports on each child assessed, although we do provide verbal feedback to parents, where requested.
“The registration fee contributes towards the administration costs associated with admissions and assessment and as such is applicable whether the child is offered a place or not, and is in line with KHDA recommendations.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
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Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
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- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
Stoke City v Tottenham
Brentford v Newcastle United
Arsenal v Manchester City
Everton v Manchester United
All ties are to be played the week commencing December 21.
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Fernandes pen 2') Tottenham Hotspur 6 (Ndombele 4', Son 7' & 37' Kane (30' & pen 79, Aurier 51')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)