It is the dream of many parents to educate their children in sterling schools in the UAE. There are about 643 private schools in the UAE imparting education under 18 curriculums which involve Indian, British, International Baccalaureate, American, Japanese and On-line options. However, the extortionate fee structures of these schools hinder the dreams of several parents every year. According to a survey conducted by Education Intelligence Group and Property Finder on 3000 families in Dubai, six out of ten families consider the school fees to be high and beyond their affordability. Abu Dhabi consists of approximately 186 private schools that promulgate their learning process under the curriculum of MOE, CBSE, ICSE, British, American and IB.
Many of these private schools give merit cum means scholarships to provide monetary assistance to the meritorious students so that they are able to continue their education without any financial hurdles. Most of these scholarships are recurring in nature and they need an annual renewal for the ongoing funding process.
The schools set up the eligibility criteria for scholarships as part of their policies. However, the basic procedure remains unchanged for all scholarship programs. This involves
● affixing of documents along with the scholarship application which includes a copy of relevant ID proof both for national and international students,
● passport-size photographs,
● essay of scholarship, statement of purpose,
● proof of annual family income, candidates’ immunisation certificate,
● annual reports of academic performance of the last two years, awards and accomplishments of the candidates,
● letter of recommendation
The shortlisted candidates on the basis of the scholarship applications undergo a personal interview round for final selection. The scholarship providers set up strict strategies to filter out the deserving candidates. Both national and expatriate students, as well as existing and newly enrolled students, are eligible for the mcm scholarship programs demonstrating their talents and capabilities in academic, sports, arts and cultural areas. Multiple international schools in Abu Dhabi offer merit cum means scholarship.
The GEMS Scholarship is merit-based funding, provided to the students studying in any of the GEMS schools. These schools follow the CBSE curriculum and the scholarship is disseminated to grades 5 to 11 under three categories.
● Category A: Students get 20% remittance on tuition fees.
● Category B: Students get 15% remittance on tuition fees.
● Category C: Students get 10% remittance on tuition fees.
The Global Indian International School (GIIS) one of the reputed international schools in Abu Dhabi under the CBSE curriculum propound two merit-based scholarships –
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Zayed Gandhi Merit Cum Means Scholarship contributes to the concession of 5%-15% on tuition fees of the deserving candidates from grades 2-11, among three categories based on their aggregate family income that ranges from 10,000-15,000 AED.
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Global Future-Ready Merit Scholarship as the name suggests, extends financial aid to the meritorious students from grades 7-10 with an aggregate academic result of 91% and above and offers concession of 10%-20% on tuition fees.
