Dubai education regulator begins inspections of emirate’s private schools

Private schools are being inspected by Dubai’s education regulator to ensure standards are up to scratch.

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) yesterday announced that several new schools will be visited for the first time.

In Dubai, private schools are regulated by the KHDA and schools are inspected annually. New schools are exempt from inspections during the first three years of their operation.

The authority said seven schools that have reached their three-year anniversary will be inspected this year as part of the 10th cycle of school inspections, which began last week.

The seven include the Indiancurriculum Amled School, the International Baccalaureate-curriculum Swiss International Scientific School, and the British National Curriculum schools Hartland International School, Dovecote Green Primary School, St Mary Catholic High School Dubai – Al Muhaisnah, Ranches Primary School and Dubai British School Jumeirah Park. KHDA will inspect 166 private schools. The emirate has 185 private schools catering to 273,599 pupils.

“Inspections are an important tool that allow schools to improve the quality of education they offer,” said Fatma Belrehif, the chief executive of the KHDA Dubai School Inspection Bureau.

“After nine years of inspections in Dubai, we have seen an increase in the number of pupils attending schools that are judged to be good or better.”

The Ministry of Education standardised school inspections with the introduction of the UAE School Inspection Framework in 2015.

The framework “has allowed us to unify our efforts towards achieving UAE National Agenda goals”, Ms Belrehif said.

The bureau has published a 28-page School Inspection Supplement to guide schools. The guide is available on the KHDA website.

A school’s final inspection rating is used by the KHDA to determine by how much the school may raise its annual fees for the following academic year. Generally, the higher a school is rated, the more it can charge.

Last year, the KHDA inspected 159 of its 185 private schools. Sixteen schools were rated outstanding, 14 very good, 69 good, 50 acceptable and 10 weak.