Monday, Aug 25, 2008

Dubai: A UAE-based private education provider will soon roll out an insurance scheme for pupils.

The scheme is optional and premium details are being worked out with a leading insurance company.

Sunny Varkey, Chairman of the Varkey group, on Sunday told Gulf News the scheme would most probably be launched in a couple of weeks.

"This is the first time that a private education provider has launched an insurance scheme in this part of the world. This particular initiative comes as a commitment on the part of the Global Management SystemsGlobal Management Systems (GEMsGEMs) to ensure that we can guarantee education for each pupil who is enrolled with us. The premiums will be affordable and it will bring education protection until secondary school."

There are about 85,000 pupils studying in GEMsGEMs school globally. There are 26 schools operating in the UAE.

Affordability

Parents said they thought the scheme was good as a concept but the affordability aspect had to be thought about. One parent said his two daughters who study at Our Own English High School in Sharjah had brought the forms home.

"But I opted not to go for the insurance scheme. I blame it on the cost of living. The revised fee structure, bus fees and the overall price increase of commodities does not allow me to go for this scheme. If the premium was set somewhere around Dh250 and Dh275 per year then I am sure many parents would go for it."

K. Krishnan, another parent, said: "My question is what is the use of an insurance scheme when the whole family has to go back to their home country when the primary wage earner is dead?"

By Sunita Menon

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