The Knowledge and Human Development Authority’s (KHDA) annual school inspection results for 2016-17 were posted on Wednesday and Indian curriculum schools have done well in populating the positive categories. Two schools are in the outstanding category, three in the Very Good category, while 10 schools occupy the Good category and 11 schools sit in the Acceptable range. Just four schools have been considered ‘weak’.
Given that these numbers are carved from a total Indian curriculum school-count of 33 in Dubai, these are undoubtedly markers for optimism. In fact, there has been an upward graph of performance by Indian schools since the inception of KHDA inspections in 2009, at which time, only 45 per cent of Indian schools were ‘good’ or ‘higher’. The performance of Indian curriculum students is also steadily improving in international assessment tests such as the TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study). All this provides strong impetus for Indian curriculum schools to make a push to enter the highest category.
As an example, in the past couple of years, the Outstanding category has two Indian schools and the Very Good category has three Indian schools, even as the Good category has burgeoned from eight schools in 2015 to ten schools in 2016.
And what supports every school’s bid for elevation are two conducive external stimuli: The fact that 54 per cent of Indian schools already meet or exceed National Agenda expectations and the presence of the Abundance Group initiative by KHDA, which enables schools to share knowledge and best practices. These are invaluable impetuses to synthesise excellence.
Add to this the catalytic push of the school inspection system and greater recognition is a matter of time and hard work put in by the schools.
