Factors Influencing Private School Preference in UAE

This report provides a literature review examining the preference of Emirati families for private schools in the UAE. It explores factors such as the perceived advantages of private schools over government schools, including better facilities, advanced extracurricular activities, and a focus on science subjects. The report discusses the influence of socio-economic status, the importance of English language proficiency, and the impact of school environment and curriculum on parents' decisions. It highlights the increasing number of private schools in the UAE and analyzes the key drivers behind this trend, including the influence of school ambiance and the focus on science subjects. The report references several studies and reports to support its findings, offering a comprehensive overview of the factors influencing the choice of private schools in the UAE.

Running head: PRIVATE SCHOOLS OF UAE
PREFERENCE OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS AMONG UAE FAMILIES
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

1PRIVATE SCHOOLS OF UAE
Introduction
Private schools are the independent schools that are not aided by the government and are
funded totally by the students. There are some private schools, where a student might get access
to education free of cost, but that mainly depend on the academic excellence of the individual
students (Ruban 2012). In this paper a literature review has been provided exploring about
different private schools across the world and why the Emirati families choose to send their
children to private schools.
Literature review
According to Ball (2017) government schools do not provide special facilities to the
students in terms of education. Government schools sometimes do not have proper laboratory
facilities for the science students. Since, government has to fund the entire spending for the
school; all the aspects related to the infrastructure and advanced facilities might not be
addressed.
Since government have to aid a large number of schools it becomes very difficult for
them to reach the perfection. Furthermore, government schools provide education to different
classes of people irrespective of the socio economic status of the students (Klugman 2012).
Students coming from wealthier families might not find it suitable to mix up with the students
coming from low socio economic background, which leads the parents to admit their children in
the private schools.

2PRIVATE SCHOOLS OF UAE
Each and every parent want that their children to get the best, including success, safety,
healthcare and love. Most of these parameters are based on good education. As per the bureau of
Labor statistics, graduation rate is inversely proportional to the murder and the assaults rate.
Education can be perceived both from government funded institutions or private
institutions. Nowadays the education is not cheap. According to the reports by Hvidman and
Andersen (2013) public college education costs nearly $100, 00 for a student who are likely to
attend public schools.
In spite of the increasing amount of financial burden, people are daunting towards the
private schools with the hope of getting advanced education. Iqbal (2012) has argued that there is
not much difference between the academic levels of the government schools and the private
schools and has also cited examples that the eight grade math and the fourth grade readings were
just a wash.
According to Klugman (2012) most of the effects of the private school education are
influenced by the family decisions and motivations. According to Lubienski and Lubienski
(2013) families of the students studying in the public schools can at least question the authorities
regarding the licensing and the certification of the teachers, as most of the teachers are appointed
on the basis of a level of teaching quality, whereas in the private schools there are no such rules
regarding the appointment of the teachers (Lubienski and Lubienski 2013).
Private schools in the UAE
Most of the Emirati schools are bestowed with Islamic values other than the western
culture. Emirati families can want their child to be acquainted with other cultures and thus
choose to send their children to private schools (Hvidman and Andersen 2013).

3PRIVATE SCHOOLS OF UAE
The general, socio economic status of most of the Emirati families are quite good, which
leads them to opt for private schools with better facilities. Some private schools have much
advanced extracurricular facilities like provision for games such as soccer, basket balls, and
dance classes, swimming classes, interactive clubs and more. It can be easily said that public
schools will not be able to give their students with such a varied number of facilities other than
studies (Mazawi 2017). The Emiratis often face problems with the English language as in most
of the Islamic schools, Arabic is used as the medium of instruction and the curriculum is mainly
based on the Islamic values (Mazawi 2017). Since, English is an accepted language all over the
world and is the medium of instruction for all the official work, knowledge of this language is
necessary. According to Ruban (2012) most of the Emirati schools are incapable of providing
proper English education. Hence, this can be one of the important factors which drive the Emirati
families towards private schools.
According to Mazawi (2017) private schools in Abu Dhabi had outperformed the
government schools in several aspects. According to the reports, private school parents have a
higher viewpoint about the school quality than the public school parents, in terms of school
climate, student learning and school-parent relationships.
According to the study conducted by Mckinnon et al. (2013) the cognitive achievement
scores of the students in comparison with the students from the public schools have been proven
to be higher. In terms of math and science subject the achievement advantage is found to be
higher in the private schools in UAE. According to the study conducted by Mckinnon et al.
(2013) the cognitive achievement scores of the students in comparison with the students from the
public schools have been proven to be higher. In terms of math and science subject the
achievement advantage is found to be higher in the private schools in UAE.

4PRIVATE SCHOOLS OF UAE
The national statistics of UAE shows that private schools in UAE have increased from
168 to 473 since 1982 to 2011(Mazawi 2017). Reports show that in the last five years the
number of students in the private schools has increased drastically. According to Mckinnon et al.
(2013) the two factors that are driving the Emirati parents to admit their wards in private schools
can be listed as-
 The influence of the school ambience
As per the parent’s feedback, the private school climates are much healthier than that of the
government schools as the parents donate a large amount of money as the tuition fees.
 Focus on the science subjects- Private schools generally follow an international
curriculum that is accepted worldwide and generally emphasize on the pedagogy of
science teaching. On the other hand the public schools are mainly based on Islamic
teachings and virtues and focus less on science topics (Mckinnon et al. 2013).
Conclusion
It cannot be said that government schools are not capable of giving proper education to the
students, as academic performances depend upon the merit of a persona and not on the type of
the school. It can be definitely said that private school cater to the overall development of the
child apart from the studies.

5PRIVATE SCHOOLS OF UAE
References
Ball, S.J., 2007. Education plc: Understanding private sector participation in public sector
education. Routledge.
Hvidman, U. and Andersen, S.C., 2013. Impact of performance management in public and
private organizations. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 24(1), pp.35-58.
Iqbal, M., 2012. Public versus private secondary schools: A qualitative comparison. Journal of
Research and Reflections in Education, 6(1), pp.40-49.
Klugman, J., 2012. How resource inequalities among high schools reproduce class advantages in
college destinations. Research in Higher Education, 53(8), pp.803-830.
Lubienski, C.A. and Lubienski, S.T., 2013. The public school advantage: Why public schools
outperform private schools. University of Chicago Press.
Mazawi, A. ed., 2017. World Yearbook of Education 2010:" Education and the Arab'World':
Political Projects, Struggles, and Geometries of Power". Routledge.
McKinnon, M., Barza, L. and Moussa-Inaty, J., 2013. Public versus private education in primary
science: The case of Abu Dhabi schools. International Journal of Educational Research, 62,
pp.51-61.
Ruban, N.A.B.H., 2012. United Arab Emirates. TIMSS 2011 Encyclopedia, p.961.

6PRIVATE SCHOOLS OF UAE