scrubbedexpat141

They're up there for sure.

Along with everything else that JML (I think) sell.

weasel decentral

What was the problem? How to discreetly let people know you are gay?

Lights on = available
Lights off = unavailable
One on/one off = considering offers

Bahtatboy

Dumbo

nah I should stick to putting easter eggs down your pants while the grown ups hide them away for children.

I have expressed my opinion on other threads about schooling, I don't feel the need to comment on every single issue on every single thread, unlike some.

Millhouse

Feet up on the dashboard. It's 10x my dogging results.

weasel decentral

I am worried by your new signature, it's all gone a bit hippy dippy, new age, Paulo Coelho type of shit.

mikewot

Fixed it for him, free of charge since it's Easter:
"Nobody can go back and make a new beginning but anyone can start today and have a happy ending in Dubai"

Kim67

We had a pest controller friend pop in for coffee a few months back and he left a black cap on the floor with one of those LED strips in it. The dog must have stepped on it in the dark and turned it on while we were watching the tv - we didn't know what it was, very freaky indeed. Then the kids played with it until they flattened the battery before he dropped in to pick it up on his next visit.

scrubbedexpat141

But you do feel the need to be condescending and insulting to me?

Millhouse

Yeh, need to change it. Actually, it was at the bottom of one of my client's emails. strange.

Dumbo

Based on the extracts taken from your previous posts......yes:

It's just because it's emotive for parents who all think their child is an untouchable, not-for-profit-making angel.

that the little cherubs need to receive the best possible education, if it were the greatest concern of any parent here and they didn't think the kid was being taught as well as possible then would they stay here?

Condescending and insulting? *insertderogatorycomment* please.

scrubbedexpat141

It IS emotive for parents.
Parents DO tend to think their kids are little angels.

Look how upset and aggressive you're getting. It clearly does get emotive when people feel their kids are being used to get as much cash from a parents pocket as possible.

My point is quite simple; this isn't really a radical idea, private schools have been making lots of money for years. If you're not happy with the school your kid (whether an angel or a little devil) goes to, you change it, no?
If you think the school isn't worth the money, you find one that is?
If all the schools are shit and not good enough, then you have to send the family home or leave or try and find a way of making it affordable.

JUST the same way that if you have three kids and need a 4-bed house but can't afford it, what do you do? Bunk a couple up and make do? Leave?

I can't afford a two-bed in the area I want to live, so I 'make do' with a one bed. I can't afford to perch my arse on the nice leathers seats a Range Rover would provide me, so I drive a Ford. I can't afford to go on a fantastic holiday again this year, so I'm going back to the UK. I can't justify the prices of full OSN TV so I don't have it, I have basic stuff and stream things. I don't fly home 3 times a year because I can't afford to, I go home once (maybe twice this year).

Schooling
Cars
Utilities
Flights
Housing

These are all costs that, if you are paid a lump sum for example, are to balanced with what you can afford. If your accommodation goes up by 10,000 and you can't afford it, then you have to move.

If the schools are going up in price, I can guarantee there will be one that you (not you, but 'you') can afford.

I personally think the schools out here are pretty impressive. Swimming classes every week in Primary? I had once a week trip to the local baths in two of the 6 years at primary. Organised netball / football / rugby / tennis / basketball / golf / swimming tournaments and fixtures all the time at Primary...pretty impressive. iPads, wifi, completely interactive learning for little kids...pretty impressive. Arabic? Why not eh? Huge schools of kids from over 120 countries (for example)? I think that's awesome. All of that vs the local comprehensive I went to in the village is very one-sided (although I could list lots of things I like about that place as well, just very different).

To be honest, I think young kids (taking Primary as the example) have some incredible facilities here. Yeah, they aren't cheap, but generally parents' salaries aren't shit across the board if their paying, or the lucky ones get it paid for.

Dumbo

I'm not reading your post, I'm busy and not that interested in what you have to say.

I do want to explain something to you though, why I responded to the comments made by you that I have quoted above.

Parents understand businesses make money, thats fine. The problem comes when the profits are not led by costs and are based on whatever a company feels they can get away with. The problem comes because schooling is a necessity not a luxury. If profit margins of 1000% are applied on a yacht thats fine because I choose to buy or not. But certain schools exploit parents simply because schooling is a necessity.

Your earlier simple world view is crass and insulting to many people for whom schooling is a very important issue.

Kim67

The thing is, if you live in a warm climate (like we do in Queensland Australia, local state schools have swimming pools, some private schools have olympic size pools) and kids have weekly lessons during summer. The school my kids go to here has a pool, dance studios (and the use of the studios of our state ballet company), soccer fields, golf course, tennis courts, gym (new gym being built with huge rock climbing facility), use of the adjoining University facilities - it's a non-fee paying state school. Every classroom has wifi and interactive whiteboards etc - they all have laptops. It is selective if you don't live within the catchment. The catchment includes children of people that work at the University, are students at the Uni and employees of the main hospital and medical research facilities in the state. So we have heaps of kids from all over the world, including loads of Emirate and Saudi Nationals. Dubai is a great place for ethnic diversity, but it's not the ONLY place in the world where you can experience it. Sure there's no tax to pay in Dubai, but it does get on your nerves that fees are so expensive and choices are so limited. Don't believe the hype they feed you - it's not a matter of parents thinking their kids are all little angels, it's that most parents want what's best for their kids and Dubai doesn't offer excellence in most of the activities it charges over the top prices for.

Bahtatboy

You've just defined every business' pricing model in free markets.