KHDA releases Academic Plan Guide to support investors

Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has released an Academic Plan Guide to assist prospective investors to open private schools in Dubai.

Announced to coincide with the Education Investment MENA conference held on October 8-10, the guide sets out the criteria by which KHDA evaluates applications from potential private school operators.

Until this moment, nearly 150 private schools were registered and currently operate in Dubai, following nearly 20 different curriculums and its own internal sets of rules or the lack of it. A notable number, 54,   represents the British schools which are the most expensive and demanding in terms of additional financial support.

Entitled “Opening a School in Dubai,” the new handbook gives applicants detailed instructions and advice for preparing an academic plan that meets KHDA requirements, describes the process and criteria KHDA uses to evaluate proposals for new private schools and includes extracts from prior successful submissions.

Mohammed Darwish, Chief of Regulations and Compliance Commission, said: “KHDA is committed to supporting the establishment of high quality education institutions to meet the needs of Dubai’s expanding population. Transparency and ease of access to information are some of the key principles of our approach, and are directly aligned with that of private sector investors and the private schools community – to establish schools that give students access to good quality education. We are confident that this guide will encourage serious and quality investors.” Giving the keynote address at the Education Investment MENA conference, Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Director General of KHDA, emphasised the resilience of the private education sector in Dubai, adding that the sector grew through the years of economic downturn, and is expected to grow further in future. “Private education offers solid returns for investors that provide students with good quality education,” he said. “When investors focus on delivering high quality education, students benefit, and their investment gets good returns.”