UAE schools to accommodate 150,000 students by 2027

According to Alpen Capital, a financial consultancy firm with offices in Dubai, about 150,000 pupils would enroll in UAE schools by 2027 as a result of the country’s growing population and the establishment of more international schools there.

According to Krishna Dhanak, managing director at Alpen Capital, the number of schools needed in the UAE is expected to increase from an estimated 1,258 in 2022 to 1,308 by 2027, adding 50 new schools over that time.

Dhanak noted that it has been difficult to find and keep high-quality workers to match the rising requirements in private schools when it comes to hiring and paying instructors in the UAE.

The report did not specify how many new instructors would be needed nationwide, but business leaders anticipate that thousands of new positions will be generated over the following five years.

According to a survey conducted earlier by Zurich International Life and YouGov, parents in the UAE who work in the education and academic sectors spend over Dh91,000 yearly on tuition fees, compared to Dh46,500 for those who work in the public sector.

It was discovered that the average yearly cost of education in the UAE was Dh45,676, and that about 80% of families set aside 40% of their monthly income to pay for tuition.

According to Alpen Capital the overall number of students in the GCC education sector is expected to rise by 1.1 million to 14.2 million by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 1.6 per cent from a predicted 13.1 million in 2022.

The UAE, followed by Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman, had the greatest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for enrolment in the GCC between 2016 and 2021 at 5.1%. According to the report, more than 1.5 million students were enrolled in K–12 and postsecondary programs across the UAE in 2021, up from 1.2 million in 2016.

While the need for schools in the GCC is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 0.7%, this would equate to an estimated 1,127 additional schools being added by 2027, bringing the total number of schools to 35,208.

Future industry expansion is anticipated to be fueled by a rising school-age population, high per capita income, sizable budgetary allocations, and supportive government activities.

Pre-primary and tertiary segments are anticipated to increase more quickly than the other segments in the region between 2022 and 2027, according to the report.

K–12 enrollments in the area are expected to increase from 2022–2027 at a compound annual growth rate of 1.5%, reaching 11.7 million by 2027.