A woman living in Dubai has sparked a conversation online after sharing how much she spends on her daughter’s international schooling. Veronika, a mother of two living in Dubai, regularly shares snippets of her family life on social media. In a recent Instagram video, she broke down the various costs involved in sending her daughter to GEMS International School in Dubai.
She revealed that the annual tuition alone costs around AED 55,000, or approximately Rs 14.34 lakh.
However, the expenses do not end there. Registration, re-enrolment and extracurricular activities can add further costs to the overall bill. One expense that particularly surprised her was food. Meals are not covered by the tuition fee, meaning she prepares her daughter’s lunch at home and sends her to school with a lunchbox each day. Her detailed breakdown has drawn attention online, with users debating the high cost of international education in Dubai. One user wrote, “That’s a lot of money for just a kid; it’s like you are paying for university tuition. A fourth user, however, justified the cost and added, “This type of school doesn’t produce employees; it produces entrepreneurs and scientists for the future. That is the true investment in our children.”
She said parents first have to pay an assessment fee of AED 525, or around Rs 13,000, before their child is assessed. The annual tuition then comes to about AED 55,000, which can be paid in instalments. School transport costs another AED 12,000, or around Rs 3.12 lakh, a year. Uniforms are also charged separately and cost approximately AED 1,000, or Rs 26,000.
Veronika said the bus service picks children up from home and drops them back after school.
