Harry has a point, many people want to get their kids into a typically English school as they perceive them to be the best partly due to the structure, the standards, the curriculum, the sports, the teachers etc. In the past some English schools (rightly or wrongly) only let you join if you had an UK passport. That in reality kept the school free from outside influences as everyone there was thinking along the same lines.
Now there seem to be lots of 'English' schools but they are less restrictive about who joins, hence a large number of children from rich arab families and rich sub continent families who join. Once in however the families seem to want to change the English schools structure, the standards, the curriculum etc to reflect their cultures and backgrounds which seems at odds to the schools fundamental principles. (It happens like this in the UK too - but that is too massive a topic to touch on now!). Some schools I would say are more affected i.e. JPS, JESS some less so i.e. English College, Dubai College.
Obviously we all want the best for our kids but it is strange that traditional Arabic families do not send their kids to traditional arabic schools with the standard arabic curriculum and likewise the Indian families do not like the standard Indian schools and their teaching methods. One can only summarize that they want better schooling for their kids, it is a pity though they can't leave the schools alone to do the job they are supposed to do!
(ps Arabic is still compulsory I think in the primary schools.)