Consider these school issues: Bullying, safety of children, fair treatment by teachers, quality of teachers, satisfaction of teachers and quality of education. Anyone would agree that with the exception of the first, all other criteria need to score high in performance for a school to make a difference. The Knowledge and Human Development Authority’s (KHDA) 2013-14 survey, completed by 74,093 respondents comprising teachers, pupils and parents, reveals that this truth is a part of Dubai’s education sector. In all the categories, the findings reveal a score of 80 per cent or more, while bullying scores low as it should. Eighty per cent of the respondents said they were happy with the way schools were tackling bullying.
A debilitating force at work in schools, bullying denies a child conducive scholastic environment and interferes with the child’s emotional and psychological growth. The fact that schools in Dubai have managed to bring down the instances of bullying so effectively speaks highly of their commitment to their pupils. This commitment sits well within the larger picture of Dubai’s education system that places full emphasis on quality education and skilled teachers, two critical determinants of a child’s intellectual growth.
