School Enrollment

Hi All,

I just want to share some information with you all if you have children who are going to school. Some schools are really giving pain in the *** when you want to enroll the kids to the schools especially the good ones. Looking at the requirements , as if you are enrolling your kids to one of the top universities.

If you are new in UAE and wanting to enroll your kid to school, below are the requirements :

• 5 passport size photographs ( white background)
• copy of father’s passport
• copy of the student’s passport
• copy of the birth certificate

If the birth certificate is issued in the UAE, GCC countries, USA,Canada, Australia & Western European countries, attestation is not required. If other than those countries, you have to have their birth certificate translated to Arabic or English, and then your country Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then to UAE Embassy in your country and lastly final attestation by UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abu Dhabi ( Marina Mall-below Paris Gallery). All these process costed $$$ and time consuming.

• copy of vaccination record

• copy of the most recent school report card
original and stamped by the issuing school. If your kid missed all school terms this year, than very likely the school will not accept the enrollment.

• recommendation letter from the previous school
signed and stamped by the issuing school. No attestation is required if issued in the USA, Canada, Australia or West European countries.

• original transfer certificate
signed and stamped by the issuing school. No attestation is required if issued in the USA, Canada, Australia or West European countries.

When I went to the school for the first time, I was given the enrollment form and appointment date with the registrar. I was required to bring all the documents in order to enroll my kids to the school. But when I came on the appointment date, the registrar told me that they cannot enroll my children until they meet them in real and have them sit for the interview and placement test. This really pissed me off. My children are still schooling in my country and the school should have told me that they have to be present for the enrollment. So I don’t have to bother pressing my wife ( back in my country) to get all those documents ready and posted to me within short period of time. This particular lady registrar was quite rude and cocky. She simply shut me off and asked me to come next time with the kids. And to my annoyance, she said by the time my kids arrive, there might not be any place for them in the school.