Education in Dubai should be a top priority for school managements

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) released latest guidelines which indicate that schools in Dubai should focus more on developing pupils’ personalities and social skills. In addition, education for special needs children should become a priority.

The Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB), under the KHDA, issued the fifth annual inspections handbook on Sunday, just before the beginning of the new academic year on September 9.

The handbook, which was prepared with the assistance of school principals, teachers and parents in Dubai, can serve as both criteria on which schools can base their progress and a guideline for DSIB inspectors.

It focuses on personality development and preparing pupils to deal with challenges and provides thorough information on the methods of inspection and what the authority wants to achieve with education in Dubai.

“In our ever-changing society, it is increasingly important that pupils have the attitudes and social skills to deal with all aspects of the modern world, especially in the context of Dubai,” stated the KHDA.

Dubai’s students should not only be aware of many aspects of culture, community and the environment, but that they should also be contributing actively to them, according to the Chief of DSIB, Jameela Al Muhairi.

Not only does the handbook concentrate on the social skills of pupils, but it also points out additional areas of focus for inspectors in the upcoming inspections cycle.

The quality of support schools provide for their special needs pupils, as well as the better results of these pupils regarding all subjects will be strongly emphasized.

KHDA’s pursuit of high-quality education in Dubai for all children will continue and the authority states that it will not spare efforts in raising schools’ awareness of how this goal can be achieved.

The handbook is a step in the right direction and absolutely corresponds to the UAE 2021 Vision, which specially focuses on an inclusive society that helps people with special needs to fit in. The provision of specialized education will be one of the main points of the revised inspection system. At present, only a small number of schools have the appropriate conditions for special needs pupils and ensure that their academic progress is good.

Dubai  schools are guided to provide more detailed information about all groups of students, focusing in particular on the academic progress and achievements of Emirati pupils.

Self-evaluation

The progress of Emiratis compared with their classmates will be closely examined by KHDA’s inspectors this year. In the past, some schools such as Repton Dubai, for example, reportedly did neglect these area of development. Now, all schools have to submit a self-evaluation document before the inspections begin. The handbook will go with the self-evaluation resource for schools. Inspectors will use this self-evaluation form as the starting point for conducting inspections along with each school’s previous inspection report.

A total of 138 private schools were inspected by DSIB  in the 2011/12 academic year. KHDA visited 13,789 classes and spoke to around 1,850 students and staff. Moreover, more than 50,000 parents, teachers and pupils completed the DSIB questionnaires, which inspectors used to evaluate specific aspects of school quality and education in Dubai.

This year, KHDA’s inspections will begin the last week of September and will be carried out in batches with schools according to different curriculum.

The inspection results are announced annually and depend on the ability of the schools to raise tuition fees. Schools that are ranked outstanding can hike fees equivalent to twice the Educational Cost Index (ECI x 2), which is determined annually by Dubai Statistics Center and is three per cent of each school’s tuition fee.

Good schools can hike fees equivalent ECI x 1.5, while acceptable and unsatisfactory schools can raise their fees by ECIx1.

School fees in the UAE are quite high, ranging from Dh18,000 to Dh92,000 per anum. British schools, in particular, are the most expensive.