Inspectors focus on students’ health, Arabic

More than 200 schools across Dubai are being evaluated on their curricula, management, Arabic-language teaching and students’ development in a third round of school inspections, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) said on Sunday.

In total, 80 public schools and 136 private schools will be inspected by a whopping 673 inspectors and the emirate’s schools will be placed in one of four categories: outstanding, good, acceptable and unsatisfactory.

“We are focusing on the three areas of healthy lifestyles, learning Arabic, and inclusion [for pupils with different needs], to take our inspections to a new level; by setting the bar on certain issues, schools have a framework in which they can make improvements,” Jameela Al Muhairi, Chief of the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau, said in a statement released to Emirates 24|7.

Inspectors will also take a closer look at the arrangements schools make to promote healthy choices. They will review lesson plans and opportunities given to pupils to take part in sports and active exercise, and also examine closely the meals and snacks offered to students.

On the teaching of Arabic, inspectors will now give schools more detailed information for the attainment and progress of students for whom Arabic is a first language, and also for those learning it as a second language.

Finally, schools must demonstrate their inclusiveness. Good schools ensure that they provide for the educational needs of all students in their care. In the coming year, inspectors will discuss with schools their arrangements for admission and evaluate the quality of the support provided by schools for students whose educational needs are different from most.

Al Muhairi said inspectors had undergone training specific to Dubai.

For the academic year 2009-2010, 209 schools were inspected by the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB). This included 23 Indian and Pakistani schools that were inspected for the first time.

Five schools were rated as outstanding; 73 were good; 106 acceptable; 25 were unsatisfactory.

Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General at KHDA, said: “This third year of inspections is important for us in our work to improve the quality of education. It means our database is growing, and by the end of the third cycle we shall have the evidence to look at trends in schools in Dubai.

“We are hoping that our Inspection Development Programme, which we began last week, will enhance the quality of our inspections. The idea is that public school principals and private school principals can form partnerships to share best practice and their experiences of running schools. Only by sharing knowledge in this way can our schools take the lead in raising their standards.”

Annual reports from the past two years and the inspection handbook are available at www.khda.gov.ae.

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