UAE | Education
Licences of substandard schools in Dubai will be revoked
Private and public schools in Dubai will undergo overall inspection from September to raise and improve the quality of education.
- By Siham Al Najami, Staff Reporter
- Published: 15:19 June 15, 2008
- Starting September, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority will inspect private and public schools.
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archive
Dubai: The licence of a school will be revoked if it fails to apply international standards of education and continuously breaches regulations.
Starting September, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority will inspect private and public schools.
This is part of an initiative to improve the standard of education in Dubai schools.
Students and parents welcomed the move, but some were sceptical, saying the inspections may not bring about real change.
Jameela Al Muhairi, Chief of the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau, told a press conference on Sunday that inspections of all schools will be mandatory.
"Schools should view inspections as a positive opportunity, not as an obtrusive experience," she said.
Manipulation
Zainab Ali, a parent and teacher at a public school, said this a good opportunity for both sectors. She said private schools should be monitored closely as they tend to manipulate educational standards to serve their own interests.
"As for public schools, they should limit the work pressure on teachers as I am given 24 classes per week. I was recently assigned to teach maths, science and English to elementary students when I am an English teacher," she said.
Mohammad Bashir, who goes to an international private school, said: "It's a wonderful step if it is realistically applied. We seriously need changes in the logistics of education. Teachers are pressured by classes and the rise in cost of living. Pupils are not given enough support and attention from teachers and management, and the schools are on a mission to hike fees and transport expenses."
As part of the inspection process all schools will be expected to draw up their own action plan which will allow them to incorporate recommendations from the inspection report and work towards improvements.
With more than 13 curriculums offered in Dubai schools, inspectors will ensure that the schools follow the criteria which would be on par with international standards.
"KHDA has a vital responsibility for monitoring and encouraging the highest standards of education in private schools. Taaleem welcomes the inspections as the results they give should help us by confirming the strengths of our schools and identifying areas for improvement," said Melissa Jarvinen, Marketing Manager from Taaleem, which manages about six schools in UAE.
Criteria: Seven areas of focus
- All inspections look at the school as a whole in respect to the education provided.
- The framework for inspection relates to quality Indicators with stated areas of focus.
- These relate to seven key areas and can be structured in terms of seven central questions.
- How good is the pupils' progress?
- How good is the pupils' personal and social development?
- How good is the teaching and learning?
- How well does the curriculum meet the educational needs of the pupils?
- How well does the school protect and support pupils?
- How good are the leadership and management of the school?
- How well does the school perform overall?
Do you think inspections will improve standards in UAE schools? What do you think are the loopholes in the system? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com or fill in the form bellow to send your comments.
Your comments
This is the first time ever that someone has focused upon this and this is an excellent way to inhance educational standards.
Ali
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: June 16, 2008, 11:57
The inspection in schools is good idea and suggestion is
1. To check the rest room in the school bec. My son studying in a school where the rest room is stingy smell.
2. The teachers are rude to the children not polite
mallisj@yahoo.com
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: June 16, 2008, 11:36
Very good step as long as it does not create another chance for schools to deplete and gouge parents of more money under the pretext of meeting the standards.
Maher
Dubai,UAE
Posted: June 16, 2008, 11:32
The inspections should be as a surprise visit. The schools should not be informed about it. Inspections should be all year round,
Syed
dubai,UAE
Posted: June 16, 2008, 11:15
Yes, Inspections will improve the standards in schools, teachers are not taking care about the pupils, not giving attention to their weakness areas in subjects. Putting more burden on them. These are the main loopholes should be cleared.
Zameer
Dubai,UAE
Posted: June 16, 2008, 10:26
We have major loopholes we have to start from the base, the principal, management, teachers, parents and then students. First three should be qualified as I see they r not for these fields, the person who sets the course doesn?t know what he is doing. I taught in a school for a while and I have an experience from Canada, South Africa, but the teachers who were teaching since 15 years or more could not tolerate my new methods of teaching and i ended up leaving my job and my students had tears in their eyes,we need new ways to teach the modern world children who have computer in their brains and as we are moving towards the robotic world. We need a major change!
Farhana
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: June 16, 2008, 10:24
Some of the private schools in Dubai are appointing teachers temporary for a period of 3 months like from April to June or Sept. to December or January to March, they say first 6 months are a probation period. Why the school management behaves like this is not to give good salary or no expenses occur from their side.
simon
DXB,UAE
Posted: June 16, 2008, 09:47
When License of a school will be revoked what will be the status of students studying in it. Will they get immediate admission in another school, can other schools in Dubai accommodate such a surge. Will the standard of those school not be affected.
Kasim
Dubai,UAE
Posted: June 16, 2008, 09:21
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