School inspections have improved the quality of education in Dubai, officials say

Dubai: School inspections have tremendously improved the quality of education in Dubai, officials have said, as the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) released its Annual Report 2012 on the performance of private schools in the emirate.

According to the report, 47 per cent of students now attend good or outstanding schools, compared to 30 per cent in the first year of school inspections in 2008.

The proportion of students in schools rated unsatisfactory went down from 14 per cent in 2008 to six per cent in 2012. During the same time, the proportion of students in schools rated acceptable went down from 56 per cent to 47 per cent.

“The yearly inspections we carry out play a crucial role in the development of Dubai’s private education sector,” Dr Abdullah Al Karam, director general of KHDA said.

“For parents, the inspections are a demonstration of the commitment KHDA has to high quality education in the emirate, and for operators they are proof that high quality schools will be encouraged and supported every step of the way,” Al Karam said.

More than 210,000 students attend the 148 private schools in Dubai, offering 13 different curricula.

“Since inspections began, rapid improvement has taken place in both individual schools and the private education sector as a whole.”

Last academic year, the number of students attending outstanding schools more than tripled, from 6,117 to 18,456, as the number of outstanding schools increased from six in 2010 to 11 last year, he said.

The results of four years of inspections show “a clear and consistent shift towards quality”, he said.

However, there is much hard work ahead to raise the standard of schools which still fall into the acceptable or unsatisfactory categories, Jameela Al Muhairi, chief of Dubai schools inspection bureau at KHDA, said.

“The number of schools in these categories remains too high,” she said.

“There are many students who are still not getting the education they deserve,” Al Muhairi said.

This year, KHDA inspectors focused on special education needs. They found that some schools did well in this area, but many others were lacking, often because they did not know how to, she said.

Studies suggest that the number of students with learning difficulties in the Middle East is increasing.

So, even if a school has an excellent record of supporting such students, what works now may not work necessarily in the future, she said.

“When we work together to really support our special education needs students, this reflects well on all our schools. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. We want our education system to be inclusive,” said Al Muhairi.