NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL
Schools fear exodus of pupils as jobs slide
Dubai - MARCH 29: The prospect of falling enrolment is worrying private international schools as parents lose their jobs.
Administrators say that so far there has been no noteworthy decline in the number of enrolled pupils, despite thousands of redundancies in the country. But that could change at the end of the academic year in June, when families may return to their home countries.
Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) recently sent a circular to parents, asking them to indicate whether they planned to leave the country or to re-enrol their children for the next school year.
“We realise that our normal requirement is for a term’s notice of leaving, but if you are able to confirm earlier than that, it would help us enormously,” the circular said.
Other institutions have also become more cautious, introducing more conservative hiring policies after years of looking for qualified teachers to meet growing demand.
“I think we have to be careful in our staffing strategy now,” said Andy Homden, the principal of Dubai British School.
“We can’t assume like we did last year that the school is going to expand in the way it did over the last four or five years. I think what we’d like to maintain at the moment is our current numbers, and we’re optimistic about that.”
Given the prevailing uncertainty, however, officials had begun preparing for a possible decline in numbers.
“Last year, we had an overall increase of 150 pupils,” Mr Homden said. “I don’t think we’re going to be in a position where we’re going to expand rapidly like that again.
“The resident population of Dubai is either going to stay roughly where it is or go down. Obviously, it’s not going to go up. So that’s what we’re trying to predict.”
Mr Homden thought that as demand for people with construction backgrounds faded, other types of skilled professionals, and their children, would move in and replace them.
“As one type of expatriate is leaving in Dubai, another type is coming in,” he said. “There are all sorts of people dealing with company restructuring, the legal positions within companies. So now you have lawyers who are coming in, and just a different mix of people in general.”
Aida Laubach, the president of the Parent-Teacher Association at the American School of Dubai, said that “given that some of these people are in the construction business”, there was concern among parents.
“With many projects on hold, parents don’t know what will happen to their positions,” she said.
Dubai schools could also be more vulnerable than those in the capital. Dr George Robinson, superintendent of the American Community School of Abu Dhabi, said: “What they’re experiencing in Dubai, after talking to administrators there, is that a higher percentage of the expat employees were involved in the construction industry’s massive build-up of residential properties.”
In Abu Dhabi, government projects such as island developments and bridges and roads were less exposed, which in turn meant that schools in the emirate were less in danger of falling rolls than those in Dubai.
But while some schools in Dubai worry, institutions elsewhere in the UAE appear less concerned. Roy Burrows, the principal of the Ras al Khaimah English Speaking School, said that the school had continued to see a healthy increase in numbers. “We’re 55 per cent Emirati and in fact at the moment enrolment is quite healthy.”
In Abu Dhabi, the British School-Al Khubairat, the largest British-curriculum school in the capital, has not seen any decline in interest.
“We’re seeing no increase in people leaving and, if anything, more applications than we’ve ever had this year,” said Paul Coackley, the principal.
Chechen man killed in Dubai
DUBAI - MARCH 29: Chechen national was shot dead at midday yesterday in Dubai.
“It looks like an assassination,” said Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the Dubai police chief, who was at the scene of the killing in Dubai Marina. The victim was identified as Sulaiman Madov, a Chechen born in 1973, Gen Tamim said.
The man “was assassinated at the parking lot of the building where he lives”, he said.
Police believe Mr Madov may have been under observation before he was shot, Gen Tamim said. “Security authorities already have leads to the crime.”
Lure of the Emirates detected on Bollywood’s radar
DUBAI - MARCH 29: The UAE is a rich pool of new acting talent and a prime location for filming, according to Anil Kapoor, a star of Slumdog Millionaire.
Speaking at the fourth Cartier International Polo challenge at the Desert Palm, the actor and producer said: “There are so many new young models and actors breaking into Bollywood from here, it’s becoming much higher on the radar now than it ever has been before.”
Kapoor, who has filmed two movies in the emirate – 2008’s Race and 2007’s Welcome – says he plans to work much more in the country which he describes as “very cinema-friendly”. “The films were a huge success in India. I love to shoot over here,” he said.
Kapoor looks set to branch out to a new kind of role as he prepares to announce a cameo on the hit US television series, 24, alongside Kiefer Sutherland.
He remained guarded about his plans: “I love 24, I’ve always been a fan. It’s a cult series and I’ve always watched it. It’s just too early for me to discuss the details,” he said.
Kapoor was the guest of honour at this year’s Cartier tournament. “Polo is a great sport,” he said. “It is a sport which has to be encouraged so events like this are fantastic as they are so all-encompassing. Dubai is doing great things to support polo.”
Each year Cartier hosts three tournaments: a royal Cartier International Polo Cup in Windsor, England, a Saint-Moritz Snow Polo event and the Desert Polo match in Dubai.
The modest star, who donated his Slumdog Millionaire pay cheque to Plan India, a charity working to improve the lives of children across the nation, said: “I love the people involved in Plan. I trust them.”
He has been particularly passionate about the charity’s campaign for universal birth registration, its fight against human trafficking and child abuse and work for the rehabilitation of families. On April 30 he will act as one of its ambassadors at a fund-raising event in New York.
He has been on screen for 30 years but the 50-year-old father of budding actress Sonam says that it is his daughter who now supports his career.
She made her debut in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya with Ranbir Kapoor as her co-star and is now tipped for huge Bollywood success.
“She’s supporting me now. She’s the future. I always take her advice,” he said.
For the past four years, the Cartier International Polo has welcomed many stars and VIPs. The Italian actress Monica Bellucci graced the event this year while in previous years guests have included the actors Olivier Martinez and Salman Khan and former Miss World and actress, Azra Akin.
The first Cartier International Polo Cup was in 1985 and it is now regarded as one of the most important events in the British sporting calendar.
A year on, towers are still lacking life’s basics
Dubai - MARCH 29: More than a year after they moved in, residents of Jumeirah Lakes Towers say they are still living in a construction site without supermarkets, road signs, internet or satellite TV.
Only 30 of the 87 towers in the area have received occupancy permits or are currently applying for one, and there is concern that the recession could slow construction and delay the completion of shops and roads.
“There’s no shortage of fast food restaurants and fast food joints that deliver, but you’d think they’d have at least one supermarket here,” said Ali Abdelrazzak, a 30-year-old American who works as a business analyst and has lived in Gold Crest View 1 for more than a year.
Because of the lack of shops and restaurants, he said, he travels to Ibn Battuta Mall, a 10-minute drive, or has his food and laundry delivered.
Daniel Rodas, 32, a mechanical engineer from Brazil who has also lived in the Gold Crest View 1 tower for a year, said inconveniences in the area recently convinced him to start looking for a flat elsewhere.
“The biggest problem’s the transportation,” he said. “Taxi drivers don’t know the area. There aren’t signs for the buildings, so they don’t know which ones they’re driving to a lot of times.”
This has proved difficult for his wife, he said, who stays at home with their child every day but is unable to drive.
“She definitely feels isolated, especially when I travel,” said Mr Rodas, who frequently does business in other Gulf countries.
“She doesn’t speak English so well, so it’s been difficult getting her a driver’s licence.
“I’m considering a move to an area that’s not still under construction, or at least feels a little more complete. There aren’t any schools or supermarkets in the area. I expected they’d be here by now.”
Bryan Wilson, the executive director of property development at Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), the master developer of Jumeirah Lakes Towers, acknowledged that there were problems with amenities available to residents.
“If I was a purchaser of an apartment myself, and not in the development game, I probably would be asking the same thing,” he said when asked about the absence of shops and restaurants.
He said DMCC had planned for about a million square feet of retail space, but the towers had been sold on to about 50 separate management companies. It was their responsibility to fill the retail space, he said.
“The actual letting and filling of these shops doesn’t fall with us,” Mr Wilson said. He said DMCC was in contact with the management companies, but “we have no leverage to force them to occupy” the retail space.“I guess in the current economy, it might be more difficult than a year-and-a-half ago to have retail companies expanding and wanting to grow their business.”
However, he said several projects were about to be finished, including six playgrounds, better road and building signs and transport improvements such as the opening of the Dubai Metro.
The delegation of management has also led to uneven provision of some services from tower to tower. While some are wired for internet and satellite television, for example, residents of some blocks have gone for a year without.
“You can imagine living in your apartment without communications for three months – no TV, internet, satellite,” said David Cowie, 27, a New Zealander and project manager at an environmental business who rents in Lake City tower.
He also owns and rents out a flat in the neighbouring Indigo tower, which is supplied with telecommunications services by du.
“You’d think they’d try and connect both the buildings at the same time,” Mr Cowie said. “It’s annoying.”
Anna Praygoda, 30, and Martin Pisecki, 25, a Polish couple who live in Lake Terrace tower, said they had tried, to no avail, to get internet services since moving in over a year ago.
Mr Pisecki said they had asked the management company many times when they would be connected to the internet. “They told us that du is the provider and that installation is in progress,” he said.
Ms Praygoda said it was difficult to contact the management staff because they were only available during the day, when she was at work.
“We’re only here in the evening, when most of the building staff has gone,” she said. “So we don’t have many people to talk to about the problems.”
Etisalat and du, both of which service Jumeirah Lakes Towers, did not respond to questions about the issue.