Letter from VAS Executive Chairman to parents and VAS community

It has been many weeks now since the commencement of the Coronavirus pandemic started and I wanted to write to you at this time, now we can see some of the effects that this is having and the questions that are being raised.

Firstly, our heartfelt feelings are with all those around the world who are badly affected by this virus and especially those who are severely ill or have passed away due to the infection. I know that everyone globally is trying to prepare and cope with this epidemic.

We at VAS are determined to do as much as is possible to protect and look after everyone in our VAS community as best as we can. This includes you, our parents, students as well as staff and teachers, suppliers and supporters.

In a global health disaster like this, we all need to cooperate and pull together to stay together and look after each other. We have also seen already that this health disaster is causing other issues with some companies and institutions actively cutting services and staff. Our belief is that nobody should profit from such a global health disaster and we have focused actively on minimising the worries of our students and parents while protecting the livelihoods off our staff and teachers.

All our staff and teachers at VAS have worked tirelessly and we will continue to do our best to deliver the learning to students via online and offline learning until we are able to resume our normal routine again. We are pleased that almost 95% of VAS children are actively engaged online and offline with their teachers.

Teaching & learning and end of year results and qualifications

Once we return to campus, we will focus heavily on recovering the time and learning in the Cambridge programmes. Furthermore, as MOET has extended the timeline, we will recover as much as possible the learning and time of the MOET curriculum in June and possibly July (depending on final decisions and closures).  We will share precise details with you once we know when campus operations will resume but, rest assured, we will communicate actively with you throughout. We will however continue all teaching and learning till at least the end of June and possibly middle of July.

The online and offline learning is now more important than ever as both MOET and Cambridge will assess students on the evidence the school gathers and uses to submit to the relevant authorities. So for your children to have an end of term mark and progression and or qualification whichever applies, it is key that our teachers continue to work with you and your children until the end of June or middle of July.

Please read the appendix that have been sent to parents to understand what does this mean for your child.

Fees

We have already incurred, and will continue to incur, extra costs in support of our commitment to deliver the extra time we determine is best. We are not passing on these costs to you, our parents and students. So to be clear; there will be NO extra charges from the school for the school extension to this academic year as we have outlined above as well as the online learning the school has been providing for the students.

We have ensured all our staff and teachers, from drivers, security guards, nannies to teachers and managers were paid as per usual so that they can continue to support their families through this crisis.

At the same time, whilst the term start might be delayed on campus, we expect all our parents to ensure their payments are up to date whilst we continue to provide the online and offline education.  We have extended our payment deadline by 4 weeks and any outstanding fees including for the 4^th term of 2019-2020 school year must be settled in full before April 25^th as the final deadline.  

Bus and meal fees

At the end of the school year, any unused fees for meals and buses will be credited against next year’s fees. We can’t say how many days until we know when campus operations will resume and how our schedule will be adjusted to compensate. Once we reopen, we however undertake that we will only charge for the days we use buses and consume meals and calculate the difference. Any refunds will be deductible only from next year’s fees.

Next year

Next year registration and tuition fees payment

Thank you to all those parents who have already registered and filled in the online registration form. It is extremely important that you complete this if you have not already, as we expect many new parents to come forward to enrol once the isolation period has finished.

In light of the exceptional circumstances, the VAS Board has, this week, decided to assist parents with the 2020-2021 tuition fees and is pleased to offer a 10% discount on all tuition fees paid by and no later than the Friday 15^th of May 2020. This discount applies to payments received by the 15^th May only, whether this is for the full year, a semester or a term. This is a one-time offer and will not apply for any future years. To qualify parents must also have no other outstanding fees.

As per our core values, Integrity is not just a value for students. It is a value for us all and we will ensure we do not fail on this. We trust and hope you will join us in keeping our precious community together, healthy and happy, whilst we pray for those that are not so fortunate.

Your sincerely on behalf of the VAS Board of Directors and Management,

Executive Chairman,

Marcel van Miert