NEWS
Covid-19
Twitter users accuse GEMS Education of creating fake accounts to promote positive image Twitter users have accused GEMS Education of creating and using fake user accounts to promote a false positive image, calling on Dubai’s education watchdog to curtail what they suggest is a propagandistic press campaign. In a tweet published on 17 April, a user named Moe Aamer shared screenshots of what he said was a “small sample of recently created fake accounts to tweet positively” about the United Arab Emirates’ largest for-profit school operator. The accusation followed a weeks-long spat between parents of children enrolled at schools owned by GEMS and the group over its unwillingness to offer outright discounts on tuition fees at a time when a turbulent economy ushered in by the coronavirus pandemic has led to widespread job and income losses.
Aamer’s tweet went on to say: “@KHDA we need your support to #HelpGEMSParents.” KHDA refers to Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority, the emirate’s education regulator, which recommended that schools offer discounts where possible but stopped short of ordering them reduce fees. In another tweet, Aamer shared a screenshot of a condition pertaining to GEMS’ new relief fund, which was rolled out to provide financially stricken families with discounts after more than 15,000 parents signed a petition calling for fee cuts. He said: “Wow @GEMS_ME. The discount is for three days. Failure to pay it, discount will be withdrawn. It’s like take it or leave it. @KHDA please do something! I hate how this practice pressure (sic) and how irresponsible they are in their communication #HelpGemsParents.”
A screenshot accompanying the tweet shows an excerpt of what is thought to be a letter from GEMS to parents regarding the fund. It reads: “To avail your relief package, you must pay the balance of the discounted tuition fees within three working days from today. Failure to comply will result in the relief discount being withdrawn.” According to GEMS, more than 20,000 students’ fees will be covered by the relief package, which in some cases will provide discounts of 50% or more – but only if parents can provide documents evidencing that their finances have been negatively impacted by Covid-19. An account using the handle @DubaiNameShame, which is accompanied by a blue tick, tweeted on 17 April: “Amazing how the new PR directive from @GEMS_ME has suddenly ignited Twitter accounts
set up in April 2020, account have rarely tweet (sic) and accounts from Gems teachers and staff!” Another user replied to the tweet, saying: “Gosh Twitter is overrun in the last few seconds with a load of positive GEMS tweets. The bots have woken or instructed?” The new accusations risk further intensifying relations between GEMS and its students’ parents, many of whom were incensed after they received a “threatening” email from the organisation in which it said students would be pulled from online classes if tuition fees were not paid. GEMS said in the email: “This is a final reminder to settle your child’s school fees. If payment has not been received by 12 PM on Tuesday, 21st April 2020, then we have no choice but to remove your child from access to our remote learning programme from Wednesday, April 22.”
Eton College Elite UK private schools reject fee cuts offers free online education The headmaster of prestigious English private boys’ school Eton College, Simon Henderson, has written to the head of every state school in the UK offering their pupils free use the school’s online self-study course etonx.com in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The schools can email etonxoffer@etoncollege.org.uk and Eton will supply them with all the relevant information. Eton sent all its pupils home in March and is offering its boarding accommodation to key workers in an effort to protect them from the illness.
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Some of the UK’s most eminent private schools have refused to reduce tuition fees while also applying for public funds that would be used to pay staff salaries. Elite institutions including Westminster, Dulwich and St Paul’s in London have resisted demands from parents to lower fees for the coming term at a time when all schools are closed and teaching is being carried out online due to measures enforced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Parents with children enrolled at these private schools and others are incensed because some schools that have refused to reduce tuition fees have also applied for taxpayerfunded grants to cover the salaries of furloughed staff. They argue that the annual fees they pay – which can be as high as £40,000 – cover schools’ operating
costs, including staff salaries, under normal circumstances, and should thus be sufficient at a time when all learning takes place online and amenities and extra-curricular activities are off the cards. According to the Financial Times, a group of 50 parents with children at Westminster, which has offered only boarders a fee reduction of 28%, have written to the school’s governors calling for a cut to fees for all students, funded by its reserves. One parent likened Westminster to Liverpool Football Club, which despite being bankrolled by a multibillion-pound owner has applied for public funding. “They are applying for taxpayers’ money to fund salaries yet our school fees that are still being collected would normally be sufficient to cover these. This does not sit well with myself or other parents,” the parent said.
But Patrick Derham, headmaster of Westminster, which is classed as a chairty and reported income of £30.2 million in 2018, has said that his school will credit parents at the end of the summer term once any cost savings have been calculated. Dulwich will look to do the same, according to headmaster Joe Spence, who said that his school is exploring additional support for families that have been financially impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The chairman of governors of St Paul’s, which is continuing to charge full fees while waiving boarding charges, said in a letter to parents: “I do commit to handing the savings back to parents when the position is clear. We expect to achieve at least a 10% rebate on fees and will inform you before the end of the summer term.”
EducationInvestor Global • April/May 2020
