Yesterday accidentally I came across the official website of this school in Sudan called Khartoum International Community School. I was interested in knowing about this school ever since I first heard of it.
People who told me about it said that the tuition fees for this school for KG is about $10,000 USD. I was like what the hell? Who would pay that amount in Sudan for pre-school? And if pre-school costs that much, how much will their High School cost?
When I found their website yesterday I was really very interested. I checked everything and everything I heard of was kind of true. From here I could check their tuition & fees, I was REALLY surprised. Imagine, the fees for nursery is about 17,840 New Sudanese Pound. $1 USD = 2.1 NSP, so let's divide that amount by 2.1. 17,840/2.1 = $8495 USD. That's over $8000 USD for nursery school. Now let's see the fees for High School. For grades 10 and 11 the fees are 31,240 NSP which is about $15,000 USD. And for grades 12 and 13 is about $16,500 USD. That is even more than what I pay for my higher education in the United States per year.
Interesting figures, aren't they? I found them quite interesting, to be honest. I thought who on earth would pay that much for pre-school and high school? It's really too much. For that amount I was checking what facilities do they have. I checked their facilities and found them normal ones. Lots of facilities, and it looks like The Sultan's School in Oman. But does The Sultan's School cost that much? No, it costs way less. Then I asked myself, maybe it's expensive because of the curriculum they have. But then again, there are many schools in Sudan which have those international curriculum and they cost a lot less than what this school costs.
The school is owned by one of the leading corporations in Sudan, DAL group. I heard this group pays their employees really well. I was wondering who in Sudan sends his children to this school and is able to pay that much? Then I was told that most of the students who study at this school are children of diplomats, businessmen and most of the high ranked employees of DAL group.
Anyway, I never got to see the school's building in Sudan, maybe I will go check their buildings if I go to Sudan this summer. I got a satellite shot for the school from Google Earth and here it is:
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Khartoum International Community School
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24 comments:
they have three tennis courts and a disco studio. very interesting.
is it a school or an hotel? :p loool
It seems outrageous...even Monash University doesn't charge that much for arts, and it's one of Australia's most expensive universities...my fee is AUD 25,200 which is 21,000 us dollars...and they charge 17k for high school? whoa!
anonymous: School with facilities of a 5 stars hotel :-p A cinema theater is just missed.
twister: It's really too much. Why on earth would some parents pay over $8000 USD on PRE-school?? :-s .. For God's sake, it's PRE-SCHOOL :-s
Few comments:
1-We have a nursery school in Oman that kind of cost the same, it's in Qurum and called Mantosory I guess? The fees are about 2,000 Omani Rial ...
2-Amjad you said the DAL Group played it really well ... Actually they didnt ... I dont think they force the poeple working for them to make their children attend the school ... So maybe some employees wont join this school ...
3-About your comment that a cinema theatre is missing and then the school would be like a 5 stars hotel, Not all of the 5 star hotels has cinema theatres in them. ;)
Bling: My cinema theater comment had nothing to do with the 5 stars hotel facilities. In fact, I personally never knew any hotel having a cinema theater.
2000 OMR kind of cost the same? lol
And yeah, yes I know that DAL group do not force their employees to send their children to this school, but the employees end up sending their children to the school themselves anyway. :-) When I asked who from Sudan send their children to this school, they told me diplomats, businessmen and most of DAL group employees. So, I have a previous idea that most of the children of DAL group high ranked employees study there. When I said the group played it very well, I meant they support their employees to send their children to the best school in Sudan which they own. I didn't say they force their employees to send their children to this school. :-)
Finally, thanks for your input. Very much appreciated.
there is soo much money in sudan btw!
I rarely see old cars when I go!
There is money lakeen the problem is unequality. a few people control all the wealth!
kizzie: I totally agree, especially with your last statement.
Amjad,
Thank you for your interest in our School. I am Mark Webber and I am the Director of Performing Arts at Khartoum International Community School. Actually our school is only 2 1/2 year old and it is admittedly a state of the art facility with a 25 meter swimming pool, a cinema that is part of our 500 seat outdoor amphitheatre, where we just produced the world premier of a play by Africa's top female playwright, Tess Onwueme. The Dal group also sponsored her visit here to work with our directors and students. We also have tennis courts, a proper soccer pitch and house a senior school, junior school and infants school that are equipped with Science and computer labs with some of the most modern technology. If you do more research around the world you will find that our tuition is not out of line with other International Schools. If we do seem a bit on the high end, it is probably because EVERYTHING is very expensive here in Khartoum and Sudan because almost everything must be imported. Also the US has an embargo against Sudan thus causing us to buy from other places when we could be buying cheaper products from the US. Our school also hires top notch teachers and administrators from around the world and the benefits are competitive.
If you do take a trip to Sudan I would like to extend a warm invitation to you to visit our school. We gladly welcome visitors.
Thanks again for your interest.
Mark Webber
Director of Performing Arts
Khartoum International Community School
Dear Amjad,
I am a student in the second secondary year of the international school in Holland. I'm really surprised about the fees of the KICS wich I find it a very interesting topic. My school fees is €5000 per year.So my question is why is the KICS so expensive? My school provides the same facilities as the KICS +IB (international Baccalaureate programme) and the MYP (middle years programme). That works as: four years of MYP and after finishing the MYP program the student will be transfared to the IB-DP programme which is the diplom programme what is devided into 2 years IB1 and IB2. My school has a very active Model United Nations (MUN)tradition. It is the only Dutch school that is represented at the annual Student League of nations in Geneva and we participate in a number of MUN conferences in the Netherlands.
Mohammed: Maybe Mr. Webber's comment (the one above you) answers your question. Even though that still doesn't work for me. And I wonder in a poor country like Sudan, who pays that much of money for school education? not even university or college. :)
Mr. Webber: I thank you very much for dropping by and spending some moments in reading this post plus replying at it. I truly appreciate that. And also thank you very much for the offer. Personally, I'm interested to give this school a visit and inshallah the next time I'm in Sudan, I will make sure I do pass by.
I don't really find it outrageous at all compared with other international community schools around the world i went to the American community school in Abu Dhabi U.A.E and it cost around almost the same price starting off at 35,000 DHS for kinder garden. I've seen other schools with race carts so getting a bit of the good world for those children in Sudan isn't a crime. I Believe its the quality of education that we lack here in Sudan and i think that Dal Group did a great job by offering this type of education in Sudan for a change. If you cant afford it well be it public schools are always there and they are pretty affordable too! As a parent i'd be looking for the best education for my child and not nag about how expensive it is! Its the quality of life you should be looking for.
Hi, I have some explanation for you about the exhorbitant cost of tuition at the said community school. The school is very exclusive. It caters to the nuveux elite of Sudan's priviledged class. These are a tiny community of families, who are presently profiting immesnely from Sudan's oil wealth. Check out Khartoum real estate listings and you will be astounded at home listings for sale for $1 million US and over. The DAL Group's, the school proprietor, owners are perhaps the wealthiest of Sudanies families. They can afford the tuition fees. It is actually cheaper for them to send their children to the KICS than to some boarding shcool in Britain. During my time, Comboni College Khartoum was the #1 school in Sudan that instructed all subjects, save Arabic :) in English. It is now in shambles, nothing more than a dormitory for old Catholic pastors who used to run it during its glory days. During the eighties, the Sudanese elite sent their children to Comboni. The average tuition fee at the school was around $400 US per school year for high school education. That is about $1500 US in current dollars. The Sudanese middle class could afford such fee. Now KICS has filled the void left by Comboni. There is limited, or no competition for private education (in English) in the Sudan these days. The Sudan used to have one of the highest standards of education in Africa and the Middle East in the first 25years after its independence. The British left the Sudan a well-established educational system totally run and managed by Sudanese. The University of Khartoum was a bastion of higher learning. English was the medium of instruction. Education, accomodation and food was 100% subsidized. If you were smart enough to be one of 1800 students to enroll as a U of K freshman, you were provided with free accomodation, food and tuition. All you had to do was eat, sleep, play and study until you graduate. Many of today's leaders of industry, art, law, commerce and public service graduated from the U of K. Thousands of U of K alumni teach at universites in the Arab world. It is precisely this brain drain that has wrecked the Sudanese educational system. Today the U of K is in shambles, a relic and a shadow of its past. Although the government of the Sudan provides generous tax incentives for investiment in priviate education, there are few takers because education business is not a good money-maker. Thus, the exhorbitant fees at KICS. The only way to drive such prices low is for the government to provide extremely generous incestives beyond what it is currently offering.
Nile Croc: wow ... thanks a lot for your great input!
I agree with you about the glory days of the Sudanese education after Sudan's independence ... but those glory days are no longer there, sadly.
I have no doubts about the quality of Education KICS offers. Very few schools in Sudan offer such a good education & great atmosphere, but I still stick to my opinion about how ridiculously the tuitions & fees are high, compared to international schools abroad.
I also agree with you on your point about the Uni of Khartoum. My father himself is a Uni of Khartoum Alumni. He graduated from Uni of Khartoum in the 70's and now he is a professor at one of the known universities in the Middle East, and has been a member of faculty of this university for more than 20 years now. The reason my father did not send me to the same university he studied at is what you exactly mentioned. I just hope to see education in Sudan as it used to be in the 70's and 80's ...
One more thing...
You mentioned that "The school is very exclusive. It caters to the nuveux elite of Sudan's priviledged class. These are a tiny community of families, who are presently profiting immesnely from Sudan's oil wealth."
You actually hit the nail on the head. This is the whole point of my post. Only few people in Sudan are profiting from the country's oil wealth, while the WHOLE country should profit from that wealth, not only a tiny community!
Amjad,
The disparity between haves and have not has never been more stark in the Sudan. Although the economy shows impressive double-digit growth rates, much of it is limited to a few industries such as oil, real estate and large scale mechanized agriculture. Unemployment among youth is depressingly high, about 50-75 percent depending on the area of the country. I was there in Jan of 2007. I was astounded at the despair of the youth. They are severely undereducated and woefully underskilled. Nepotism, favoritism and corruption are rife in Sudanese government circles. Civil service Jobs are awarded based on connection. Much of Khartoum is overcrowded and its infrastrucre dilapidated. It is now common to see 30+ year old grown ups living with their parents. Some even start their own family in the same roof because they cannot afford their own accomodatiion, nor do they have jobs to earn a living. Ironically, the Sudanese were far better off up until the time Numeiri than they are now with all this new-found oil. It was Numeiri's bone-headed economic policies that started all these problems.
There is one more thing I should point out. China has become Sudan's #1 trading partner. It has decimated much of Sudan's small scale industrial infrastructure. The Sudan no longer manufactures any household goods, construction material and general fabrication of light goods. All is imported from China. Even the textile industry has been taken over multinational Chinese corporations. The net result of such ill-conceived economic policy has made many skilled and semi-skilled tradesmen redundant, and the economy dependent on imported finished goods.
I don't know how the Sudan is going to solve its unemployment problems. Currently, 42% of Sudan's population is under 14 years old, 25% is aged 14-20. The birth rate is one of the highest in the world. This poses a serious threat to Sudan's satability unless the government can secure jobs, education and health care for for this young generation. Right now, they are doing squat. Sometime in the next decade, they will feel the heat of discontent, which could threaten its national security and unity.
Amjad and others,
Thank you or reading my post and treating it fairly. I wrote that post months ago and am now even more firmly committed to the mission that KICS has set out. KICS, while admittedly exclusive due to the cost of education at our school, also educates our employees children and gives some scholarships, many of which are Sudanese, for free or significantly reduced rates. KICS is also a not-for-profit school built and committed to providing a socially just education to Sudanese students who will one day be involved in the leadership of this country. We also provide outreach opportunities to local schools and other international schools through Model UN, the Arts, and work by a students and staff in the greater Sudanese community. We recognize that due to the economics of the situation we will be perceived as elite but our school and administration is committed to doing everything that it can to break down those barriers.
One last point that I am eager to make is that the people that I know of (please keep that qualifier in mind) that send their children to KICS are not directly related to oil companies. I am sure there are some who are and by no means do I wish to disparage them in any way, but it is my understanding that is not the general population of our school.
Thanks again for your interest in our school and I do hope you can make it for a visit. It will be my pleasure to show you around and share with you some of the things we are doing inside and outside of our school.
Sincerely,
Mark Webber
Director of Performing Arts
Khartoum International Community School
Mr. Mark Webber,
Once again I thank you for dropping by and giving us some of your precious time to post about the school here.
While I definitely think that KICS offers an outstanding education to the Sudanese and expatriates in Sudan, I still stick to my opinion that the school's tuition & fees are over-priced. But after what you explained, that might be understandable even though it still doesn't make it reasonable. Though, there are no doubts that this school is offering an outstanding education.
I would really be more than happy to visit the school and know more about it, I can even blog about that here on my blog. If I do get a chance to drop by anytime, I will make sure I look for you in the school and meet you.
Thanks again for dropping by. I appreciate it!
All
As a member of the Dal Group working from outside Sudan. I can try to inform you all how expensive it was to ship all the goods that make up the school from overseas. everything was imported from the basics to all the building materials.
Anon
As a parent who sends her children to KICS, I can clarify with Mr. Mark Webber about the outstanding education that is on offer at the school. There is not a huge choice of good schools in Khartoum any longer, contrary to what people may believe, and if you have visited Sudan recently, even though there is great improvement going on every day in many areas within the country, you will see that we are still lagging behind other African countries in bringing Sudan up to date with the modern world. Therefore what is on offer for the students of today here in Khartoum - not much I am afaid to say, and that is exactly why, parents like myself will make sacrifices if necessary and spend money on sending their children to a good school and giving their children the best education they can, which can be found at KICS. From a childs/teenagers point of view, there are no cinemas, shopping malls, parks etc. here to visit, sadly, it is difficult even to go out walking in Khartoum because of the intense heat and the conditions of the roads, with no pavements anywhere, and that is why we choose to send our children to a place like KICS. There are soccer teams, basketball teams, swimming teams, MUN, music programmes, school bands, arts, drama, poetry evenings and many more things going on after school hours - this is all apart from a fantastic education taking place throughout the day. I realise that other international schools all over the world will perhaps offer the same as KICS, but to understand why parents are willing to pay these fees, you would need to live here and witness Sudan for yourself. I am an expatriate married to a Sudanese man, having lived in Sudan for the past twenty years and was extremely happy when the school opened. I can now offer my children the kind of childhood I had back home in the U.K. expereincing many of the things I once do, all thanks to this school - things other children take for granted because they do not live in a city like Khartoum. Two other points I would like to make is that KICS also does a lot for charity - as a school it realises how many disadvantaged and poor people there are in Sudan and does its upmost to raise awareness about this, always finding ways to give to those in need, whether it be food, clothing or money. Many orpahanages, hospitals and childrens homes benefit from having a school like KICS in Khartoum. The second point I want to make is that the most important aspect of this school though for me is that it is helping my daughters to be citizens of the future. Not only caring about their education, but helping them grow to be strong, independent, inquiring students, allowing them to expereince things they would never otherwise have rthe opportunity to do. Each of my daughters gets up happy to go to school every morning, knowing that the day ahead is going to be both exciting and fun, going to an enviornment they love. Many years ago in Khartoum, as in many other Islamic states, the norm would be for a girl to finihs her schooling, get married very young and raise a family. Happily now, times are changing and most partens want more for their children - but even getting educated is not always enough - I want much more. I want them to become the people they want to be, not the people a society like Sudan would want them to be and going to KICS is going to help them get there - I believe that and that is why I will continue sending them there, even if we have to make sacrifices along the way. So don't be judgemental, come and live here for a while and then you will understand why the fees are worth it.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks A LOT for your time and your valuable input. It's great to have feedback from both someone who works in the school, and someone who sends his/her children to the school. Now I have a better understanding of the school, and have no doubts about the quality education it offers. But I will STILL keep my opinion about the school's high costs. The high costs might be reasonable to some parents since the school does indeed offer quality education, but it will never be reasonable to me. That however does not mean that the school does not offer quality education. Obviously the school offers A LOT, which is great, but I still hold my opinion about the high costs.
It's great to see that there are schools in Sudan that offer such quality education. I would definitely like to see more schools like KICS in Sudan, but what I would REALLY want to see is good universities as well!!! There are quite good private universities in Sudan so far, like the University of Medical Sciences and Technology, but we need more of these. We need quality higher education as well!
I am a Sudanese and I lived ALL my life outside of Sudan. I finished high school two years ago and now I am in the States pursuing my higher education. It does not feel good at ALL to be away from home all this time and pursuing my higher education thousands of miles away of home. Had there been quality higher education at home, I would have definitely preferred completing my higher education in Sudan even though my parents are still abroad. But unfortunately there is no quality higher education in Sudan, so I preferred going to the States and investing all this money on my higher education in the States. I would have been extremely happy if this money was rather invested in my higher education IN Sudan. But unfortunately, as I empathized earlier, there is no quality higher education in Sudan.
Thanks again for your input. I really appreciate it!
While I could never pay such tuition, I have no difficulty with the fact that KICS is so expensive. The facilities are by no means average. They are not duplicated anywhere in Sudan. While you may find tennis courts, pools, and the like, you will not find tennis courts, pools or even desks that are in perfect condition. A broken valve, a lump in the court,algae in something, a sharp piece of metal or two or ten. How many pieces of clothing are torn on desks in Khartoum every day!
Comparing KICS to any English speaking school in Khartoum is like comparing Podunk, Mississippi to London because the language in both places is English.
I have been to MANY so called English language schools in Khartoum and had I not been pre-informed, I would never have known. I couldn't understand a thing because the English of the administrators and teachers was so poor.
KICS PAYS good money and provides great benefits to attract and retain its employees. Nothing is easy in Sudan. Nothing. Not even for the rich. So if DAL and whomever else wants to keep their employees they can start by minimizing the stress about their children's school. Life in Khartoum is HELL for a person leaving Western comforts. It takes megabucks in Khartoum to make life even APPEAR seamless. KICS has pulled that off -- for a price.
The only schools that ever are compared KICS are the American School and Unity. Go see, though. They are not the same. Lately, there is this Al Qubbus school in Arkaweet that has just completed a new building for its English medium school. The building was falling apart before opening day! And while the atmosphere is great and the teachers are wonderful, the ENGLISH, needs work. Can Al Qubbus attract native English speakers with mastery of the language AND mastery of teaching at the tuition rates they charge. NO.
Kudos to you Osama Dawood and Nigel, the headmaster. (I forget your name.)
Good day. I am nile croc posting as anonymous because I forgot my login id.
I wish to state that I empathize with parents, who find the KICS an indespensable school, irrespective of the exhorbitant tuition fees it charges. It is understandable that every parent, including expatriate, send their kids to a good schools. I am an expatriate and. I would have done the same, if KICS was the only alternative for my children. So, it is unfair to blame KICS for the educational ills of the Sudan. It is a private business. Thus it must recover its cost to continue providing good services.
The indictment must be pointed to the government of the Sudan, which is responsible for the shady quality of education provided by its public schools. It is simply inept and short-sighted. It has increased the number of universities in the Sudan while severley diluting the quality of education. Sudanese universities produce undereducated graduates, with poor critical and cognitive thinking capabilities that cannot tacle twenty-first century society problems. These graduates go on to populate teaching positions at universities, to provide mediocre teaching services. The Sudanese educational system is producing goats. You cannot expect a goat to produce the same volume of milk as a cow.
It seems that the school really charges that much. It's even enough to provide my schooling for 4 years in college! and I can even have some more left. They could have just build a school that will sufficiently nurture the mind of the children of Sudan. The Emma Academy Project will be built in Leer Sudan for the children there who will be needing the knowledge. Through helping this cause, I am sure that later in the future, there will be more and more people in Sudan who will be able to go to an even higher form of schooling.
I have been reading the comments on this page. First, I would like to thank the owner of the blogger "Amjad" for such an informative blog.
I am a Sudanese expatriate who wanted to return to Sudan and got shocked at the terrible situation of the schools that are being promoted as English-Medium schools.
My children had a very hard time adjusting to the poor quality of education, the un-educationl ways of the teachers, the poor infrastructure, not to mention the lack of discipline and the disrespect that students show to each other on a daily basis.
I just don't agree that to build a nice school with reasonalbe infrastructure and professional teaching environment you need to charge this outragous amount of money. I still believe that if there is a will to commit to providing quality education and reasonable extra-curricular activities, you can still be able to do so with half the cost of what KICS charges. I am willing to pass on the tennis courts and the huge swimming pools, I think you can still find decent ones somewhere in khartoum. All I care about is a solid education and a positive teaching environment for my kids.
JMHO.
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