Dubai: The inspections of Dubai schools by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) have paved the way for improvement in their educational standards, education providers have said.

On Monday, KHDA announced the results of its inspections of 21 schools following Indian curriculum and three offering Pakistani curriculum.

These schools were inspected earlier than the others because they have a different academic year, which begins in April.

The results of inspection of schools following other curriculums will be released in May.

Among the 21 Indian schools, 11 were rated good, seven acceptable and three unsatisfactory. Among the three Pakistani schools, one was rated acceptable and two unsatisfactory.

None of these schools were rated outstanding; however, some Indian schools attained "Good" rating with outstanding features.

Of the 209 schools teaching different curriculums inspected last year, only five schools were rated as outstanding.

"Indian High School (IHS) was rated good and scored the highest number of outstanding features among all Indian schools inspected by KHDA," Ashok Kumar, CEO of IHS, said.

IHS got 23 outstanding features out of 40 criteria set by the authorities, he said, adding that the school hoped to achieve an outstanding rating next year.

The school continued to offer a good quality education founded on a very strong community feeling, high standards and high expectations of student achievement, Kumar said.

The biggest education provider in the country, GEMS, said five of their schools received the "Good" rating with outstanding features.

"Two of our schools — Our Own High School and Our Own Indian School — have improved their ratings this year from "Acceptable" to "Good". We consider this as recognition for the consistent efforts GEMS puts in to improve the quality of education we offer our students and the value for money which our parents receive," a GEMS spokesperson said.

Results bring mixed reactions

 Modern High School, Our Own English High School and The Millennium School have retained their "Good"' ratings from last year.

The new JSS International faced inspections for the first time and was rated "good" which Guruswami Kalloor, General Manager, attributed to the efforts to teachers and management.

Dubai The release of the inspection results of Indian and Pakistani curriculum schools in Dubai evoked a mixed response from parents.

While some said they agreed with the inspection results, others were sceptical about none of the schools getting the "outstanding" rating.

Some parents raised the issue of the low salary for teachers in Indian and Pakistani schools, which could affect the quality of education.

"This judgement is fair. Indian schools have good education and faculty, but fees should not be increased every year. I think the rating for Pakistani schools is perfect — you should either close down such schools or change the entire faculty, so that parents do not let there children go in wrong schools," Muna Maqbool said on a website comment.

"Despite being a Pakistani I say this because Pakistan has schools that are way better than the ones they have here," she added.

"The first and foremost step should be to employ better quality of teachers in the schools, which is currently not happening due to dismal salary being paid to teachers," Prashant Anand said online.

"Those who do teach at school are either there for professional soul satisfaction or for financial reason, having no other better option available due to lack of experience in any other field."

Ratings explained

To know how individual schools fared, visit - www.khda.gov.ae/en/DSIB/Reports.aspx. But what do the ratings mean?

Outstanding: All key aspects of the school's work operate highly effectively. There are significant examples of excellent practice. The school delivers fully on an ambitious set of promises to parents. The attainment and progress of almost all students are at least good across all key subjects. Standards of attainment have been maintained over several years.

Good: The school performs effectively in almost all key aspects of its work. The senior staff are capable of leading further improvement. The school delivers well on all the key aspects of its promise to parents. The attainment and progress of most students are at least good across all key subjects.

Acceptable: The school performs at an acceptable level although there may be weaknesses in certain aspects of its work. The senior staff are aware of the weaknesses and understand what will be involved in overcoming them. The school fulfils most aspects of its promise to parents. The attainment and progress of most students are at least in line with expectations.

Unsatisfactory: The school has evident weaknesses. It lacks the capacity to improve significantly without considerable support. The school does not deliver on key aspects of its promise to parents. More than a few students do not make the progress expected of them and levels of attainment are unsatisfactory in one or more key subjects.