Dubai: A concerned father of two young girls in Dubai has launched a unique survey on issues plaguing schools in the UAE.
James Mullan, a communications consultant, said he launched the ‘Education UAE Survey’ on WhichSchoolAdvisor.com, a website co-founded by him to address schooling issues.
“As a parent of two school-going girls, aged 13 and 8, I have been constantly engaged in issues about education. Clearly, there is no single dedicated source of information about high quality education. Hence the website and survey,” he said.
Launched two weeks ago, the survey, whose questionnaire is available on the website, is targeting 15,000-20,000 parents through mailers to collect independent opinions on various schools, their performance, value for money and other related heads.
The multiple-choice survey asks some leading questions, answers to which are expected to be “revealing”.
For example, there are questions on whether parents would recommend their child’s school to another parent, whether they think the fees they pay represent good value in terms of the quality of education offered, the percentage of household income that goes towards education and so on. “We have purposely asked questions that we know parents are very interested in and they are all designed to be very revealing and newsworthy,” said Mullan, adding that it takes just a couple of minutes to complete the survey.
ONE STOP SHOP
- Mullan said the website aims to be a one-stop shop for detailed information about schools, their curricula, fee structures, timings and so on.
- It will carry news and reviews of “good schools”.
- “The website will serve as a guide on the choice of schools, curricula offered, preparation required and of course, funding and finances,” said Mullan.
- The website covers schools in all the emirates.
