47 ‘weak’ rated schools seek answers
Urge ministry to review decision stopping them from enrolling students |
Administrators of 47 schools in the northern emirates rated ‘weak’ or ‘very weak’ by the Ministry of Education are calling for a reassessment of their facilities and curriculum.
The ministry has stopped the 47 schools in Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah from enrolling Emirati students because of their poor ratings.
Administrators of these schools, however, said they don’t know why they have been rated poorly given that their students have gone on to study medicine, engineering and international relations.
To address the issue, His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, said on July 9 that he contacted the minister of education and finalised the issue of transferring the supervision of private schools in the emirate to a local body comprising international education experts to look at the assessment of the 47 schools.
Shaikh Sultan said last week: “We are working to improve the education process in Sharjah not only in form but also in content. This body is working under my personal guidance to improve education standards, and will take care of everything going on in the classroom, such as the evaluation of teachers and teaching methods.”
Gulf News spoke to administrators of some of the schools in question.
Al Shola Private School in Sharjah
The school was established in 1983 and last year, the top students in the grade 12 UAE ministry examinations were from the school, principal Ebrahim Baraka said. Amin Fraij, from Al Shola Private School, topped the list of achievers of all nationalities in the advanced exams with 99.8 per cent and 1,197.8 points.
Baraka said: “We don’t know why the school was rated weak. When they named the school as weak, they did not give any report detailing why.”
The school rejected the assessment and asked the ministry to review it. The school was divided into three divisions — boys, girls and kindergarten. Each division was visited by different committees and obtained different ranks despite the fact that all schools follow the same methods and standards.
“Every school has a plan for improvement. It would have been very helpful if we had got the explanation,” Baraka said.
Mariam Al Sha’ali, principal of Ajman Modern Private School
The school has 1,060 students, 68 per cent of whom are Emirati. “We have been in this educational institution for 13 years. The school is run by Emirati cadres. I worked in public schools for nine years befoire being appointed principal. The head of the [assessment] committee told me to appoint a foreign principal,” Al Sha’ali said.
She wondered why her school was rated weak when results show the school topped tests. “It would have been more helpful if they told us on what basis they ranked us as weak,” Al Sha’ali said, noting that the inspectors had visited her school only for three days.
“Is it enough to attend 50 lessons per day with a total of 150 lessons in three days to assess the school?” she queried.
Al Sha’ali said many parents have more than one child in the school and they have also rejected the rating.
Saraswati Rajasikaran, director of the Bloomington Academy in Ajman
The director of the school, which has 19 Emirati pupils, said: “If there is a chance for a reassessment, we are certainly for it, and I am sure the result will be quite different. This is the first evaluation process in Ajman and I have a long experience in this field. I know that any school needs to prepare for three to four months before the evaluation process.”
Rajasikaran said one of the most frustrating things is that “we had signed a pledge not to publish the results. We did not receive a letter or email about it, but we were notified by telephone. However, the results were announced and the newspapers published some frustrating headlines.”
Saeed Nouri, supervisor at Ajman Private School
“We were surprised by the publication of the assessment results despite their warning and [after the authorities] confirmed that it [the results] would be confidential and would not be shared with other schools,” Nouri said.
Dar Al Salam Private School in Ras Al Khaimah
A spokesperson said, “Parents of several Emirati pupils have refused to transfer their children to other schools due to many reasons including the high fees. The parents will suffer because of the high costs and the lack of enough seats.”