Dubai Schools: How much fees will you now pay?

The Dubai Schools Inspection Report, which determines how much parents will pay in school fees for the new academic year has been announced.
 
Of the 143 schools inspected, 14 were rated ‘Outstanding’, 59 were ‘Good’, 61 were ‘Acceptable’ and 9 were ‘Unsatisfactory’.

There has been an improvement in the number of outstanding schools since last year, with two more schools added to the list.
 
Kings school, Gems Wellington International, Jumeirah College, Jumeirah English Speaking School, Dubai College, Gems Jumeirah Primary School, Jumeirah English Speaking School (Br), Gems Dubai American Academy, Gems Modern Academy, The Indian High School Dubai English Speaking College, and Horizons English School retained their ‘outstanding’ position, while Repton School Dubai and Lycee Francais International Georges Pompidous Primary Oud Mehta moved up the ranks from ‘good’.
 
Seven schools moved up the ranks from ‘acceptable’ to ‘good’. These are Al Mawakib School, The Westminster School, Mirdif Private School, Iranian Towheed, Boys School Iranian, Collegiate American School and JSS Private.
 

Two more schools that were ranked ‘unsatisfactory’ have moved to ‘acceptable’. These are English Language Private School and Grammar School.

Ambassador Kindergarten, and The Indian Academy, which were not inspected last year, were ranked ‘acceptable’.
 
Two schools moved up from ‘acceptable’ to ‘good’. These are GEMS Our Own Indian School and Dubai International - private school branch.
 
While, two slipped from ‘acceptable’ to ‘unsatisfactory’. These are Al Sadiq Islamic English School and Islamic School for training and education.
 
DSIB findings indicate that 51 per cent of schools are now providing an outstanding or good education, compared to 35 per cent in 2008.
 
This year, Dubai schools will be allowed to increase tuition fees by up to 5.84 per cent, based on the inspection report and the Education Cost Index (ECI).

 

 
According to the KHDA’s Fee Framework, outstanding schools are eligible for a raise of up to double the ECI (5.84 per cent), good schools are eligible for up to 1.5 times the ECI (4.38 per cent) and the rest will be granted the ECI rate (2.92 per cent).
 
The report outlines the correlation between good leadership and quality education, which has been well-documented in recent years.
 
This year, DSIB found that good or better leadership is now exercised at 60 per cent of all schools, an increase of 14 percentage points compared to 2008.
 
Only 2 per cent of schools were found to have unsatisfactory leadership, compared to 16 per cent in 2008.
 
For the first time this year, inspection reports included a section on the overall effectiveness of the schools’ special educational needs provision.

The key findings report brings together analysed findings on a number of aspects of this provision, including students’ progress in learning, partnerships with parents, curriculum modification and support for students.
 
Of Dubai’s private school student population, 18 per cent are enrolled in early years education.

The report shows that there has been steady improvement in this sector over the past seven years.

This is particularly apparent in health and safety, where 90 per cent of schools are now considered to have good or outstanding health and safety provision, compared with 62 per cent in 2008. 
 
The report also indicates that good or outstanding schools have adopted a number of strategies to improve provision in the early years.

These include the recruitment of effective phase leaders, adoption of a high-quality, internationally-recognised curriculum and the provision of a range of professional development opportunities for teachers.
 
“We’ve witnessed significant improvements over the past seven years,” said Jameela Al Muhairi, Chief of DSIB. “We’ve seen developments across all areas of education and huge efforts from schools, parents, teachers and other stakeholders to improve the quality of education in our schools. Our recommendations are designed to help schools continue this journey of improvement and to carry on working to provide accessible, high quality private education in Dubai.”
 
The key findings from 2008-2015 are available online at:

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