Dubai: Indian schools have improved in annual Dubai government inspections, with more students than ever in ‘good’ or higher rated Indian schools, officials said on Wednesday.
The inspection results show 69 per cent of pupils are now in schools rated ‘good’ or higher, compared to 65 per cent last year. The latest figure stands in sharp contrast when compared to 45 per cent in 2009-2010, the first academic year of inspecting Indian schools.
The inspections — now in their ninth cycle — are carried out by the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB) of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), the education regulator in Dubai.
SCHOOLS & STUDENTS
69% in good or better schools compared to 65% last year
In the latest round, 31 of the 34 Indian schools in Dubai were inspected. Five improved their overall ratings, one slipped, and the rest stayed the same.
Three Indian schools will be inspected later as they are still considered new, having completed less than three academic cycles.
In total, the inspected schools serve 78,575 students. Around seven in 10 of them are now receiving quality education. Around three in 10 students in Dubai are those in Indian and Pakistani schools.
Overall, five Indian schools are very good, 12 good, 10 acceptable and three were found to be weak. None of the Indian curriculum schools are rated very weak this year.
|
77%
of schools meet or exceed National Agenda targets |
10%
are well-developed in moral education |
58%
Are generating good or better progress for special needs students |
Sole outstanding school
Following a six-year ‘outstanding’ streak, Indian High School has this year slid to ‘very good’.
This leaves only one outstanding Indian school for this year — GEMS Modern Academy — rated so for seven years in a row.
Nargish Khambatta, principal of GEMS Modern Academy, said: “Stringent inspection processes tend to endorse our work and reinforce the belief that we are delivering quality education across all performance standards.”
Fees framework
After learning about their school’s latest ratings, parents will be awaiting the Education Cost Index (ECI) for the next academic year, announced by Dubai Statistics Centre usually in February.
Together, the ratings and ECI determine how much a school can raise fees in Dubai, with higher-rated schools allowed higher increases, in multiples of ECI.
For this school year, the ECI was 2.4 per cent, with schools allowed fee increases from 2.4 to 4.8 per cent, in line with their ratings.
National agenda
Highlights from the inspections were shared with the press on Wednesday during a briefing at the KHDA head office in Dubai. Individual school inspection reports will be available on Thursday.
The highlights show that 77 per cent of the inspected schools are meeting or exceeding National Agenda expectations, compared to 58 per cent in the previous round. The National Agenda for schools aims to place UAE schools in the top performing countries in TIMSS and PISA — standardised international benchmark exams in reading, science and maths.
Dr Abdullah Al Karam, director-general of KHDA, said: “We are continuing to see year-on-year progress by Indian curriculum schools and more students than ever are attending good or better rated schools in Dubai. Indian schools have shown a strong improving trend in TIMSS and PISA assessments and this correlates with the overall inspection findings.”
He added: “Their improvement in the performance maths, science, reading and other related skills reflects our emphasis on achieving National Agenda goals leading to UAE Vision 2021. By improving provisioning for National Agenda targets, Indian curriculum schools are directly contributing to the development of a first-rate education system.”
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
18 schools are good or better this year compared to 15 last year
Students of determination
Also, for the first time, the majority (58 per cent) of Indian schools have been judged demonstrating “good or better” progress for children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND), also referred to as “students with determination”.
Fatma Bel Rehif, executive director of Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB), said inspectors specialised in inclusive education assessed schools’ efforts in employing experts such as educational psychologists, physiotherapists, parental engagement, provisions for sports, individualised learning plans and much more.
For the first time, the majority (58%) of Indian schools are judged as generating good or better progress for students with determination.
Last November, the Dubai Inclusive Education Policy Framework was launched by the Inclusive Education Task Force, headed by KHDA, to transform all Dubai private schools to be fully inclusive by 2020.
Bel Rehif said inspectors found schools to have an “embracing culture” for students of determination. “I don’t have any school that really denies the admission or saying ‘these are not the student types that I will accept in my school’. That sort of culture, I don’t see any more,” she added.
School inspectors also evaluated the provision for Moral Education, a new mandatory subject, based on the schools’ curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment. The inspections report noted: “Schools are fully committed to implementing moral education, but are not yet formally assessing student outcomes.”
No improvement
However, there was no improvement in the only two Pakistani schools in Dubai, which were also inspected. Both schools — HH Shaikh Rashid Al Maktoum Pakistani School (‘weak’) and Pakistan Educational Academy (‘acceptable’) retained their ratings from last year.
The Pakistani schools teach a total of 2,830 pupils.
2 PAKISTANI SCHOOLS ...serving 2,830 students were rated weak and acceptable.
INDIAN AND PAKISTANI SCHOOLS INSPECTION
| School Name | Main Curriculum | 2017-2018 overall rating |
2016-2017 overall rating |
| GEMS Modern Academy | Indian(CISCE) | Outstanding | Outstanding |
| The Indian High School | Indian(CBSE) | Very good | Outstanding |
| Delhi Private School | Indian(CBSE) | Very good | Very good |
| GEMS Our Own English High School | Indian(CBSE) | Very good | Very good |
| The Millenium School | Indian(CBSE) | Very good | Very good |
| Ambassador Kindergarten LLC | Indian(ICSE) | Very good | Good |
| Primus Private School LLC | Indian(CBSE) | Good | Good |
| The Indian High School-Branch | Indian(CBSE) | Good | Good |
| Our Own High School | Indian(CBSE) | Good | Good |
| JSS International School LLC | Indian(CISCE) | Good | Good |
| JSS PRIVATE SCHOOL LLC | Indian(CBSE) | Good | Good |
| GEMS Our Own Indian School | Indian(CBSE) | Good | Good |
| The Kindergarten Starters | Indian(CBSE) | Good | Good |
| Ambassador School L.L.C | Indian(CISCE) | Good | Good |
| GEMS New Millennium School L.L.C | Indian(CBSE) | Good | Good |
| Springdales School LLC | Indian(CBSE) | Good | Acceptable |
| The Indian Academy | Indian(CBSE) | Good | Acceptable |
| CREDENCE HIGH SCHOOL | Indian(CBSE) | Good | Acceptable |
| Elite English School | Indian(CBSE) | Acceptable | Acceptable |
| Gulf Indian High School | Indian(CBSE) | Acceptable | Acceptable |
| New Indian Model School | Indian(CBSE/KSB) | Acceptable | Acceptable |
| The Central School | Indian(CBSE) | Acceptable | Acceptable |
| Buds Public School | Indian(CBSE) | Acceptable | Acceptable |
| Little Flowers English school | Indian(CBSE) | Acceptable | Acceptable |
| Pakistan Educational Academy | Pakistani | Acceptable | Acceptable |
| The Indian International School (DSO Branch) | Indian(CBSE) | Acceptable | Acceptable |
| Sabari Indian School LLC | Indian(CBSE) | Acceptable | Acceptable |
| Bilva Indian School | Indian(CBSE) | Acceptable | Weak |
| AMLED SCHOOL | Indian(CBSE) | Acceptable | Not Inspected |
| Emirates English Speaking School | Indian(CBSE) | Weak | Weak |
| Crescent English School | Indian(CBSE) | Weak | Weak |
| Gulf Model School | Indian(CBSE/KSB) | Weak | Weak |
| H. H. Shaikh Rashid Al Maktoum Pakistani School-Dubai ( English Lang) | Pakistani | Weak | Weak |
