Is the traditional bricks-and-mortar school set to be replaced by online academies?

When Covid-19 emerged, schools taught lessons through platforms such as Zoom, which set a trend that continues, with many full-time online schools now operating.

One of them, the UK-based Minerva Virtual Academy, recently announced plans to offer Gulf Standard Time lessons for students in and around the region.

But do young people taught online miss out on key experiences that come from being at school, such as making friends – and is the teaching as effective?

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Hugh Viney, MVA’s founder, said that online schooling was “certainly better for certain types of kids” who made up “a significant minority of students”.

“By no means the majority – we do not pretend we’re for all kids,” he said. “Most kids, many kids should not go to online school. We’re just great for some.”

Online schools are particularly suitable, according to Mr Viney, for students with mental health issues not supported by mainstream schools, neurodiverse students uncomfortable in a traditional school, elite sportspeople, such as young tennis players, and children from families that move around frequently.

At MVA about 40 per cent of school time is “live” online with a teacher, while during the other 60 per cent students learn on their own using an online platform without a teacher. Students see a mentor once a week and have assemblies on Monday morning.

MVA was founded in 2021 with four students and now has around 1,200, more than four-fifths in the UK, with others spread around dozens of other countries. It states that it is the only online school of its kind to be fully accredited by the British government's Department for Education, which is responsible for schools in England and runs a non-compulsory accreditation scheme for online schools.

Figures for the number of children educated online are scarce, but in England alone a 2024 census recorded 111,700 children as being home schooled, a proportion of whom will be attending online schools. The 2024 figure is up 20 per cent on the previous year, according to reports.

There are multiple English-medium online schools based in the UK or elsewhere that cater to students in the UAE.

Among the UK-based schools that market British-curriculum teaching to UAE-based families are Sophia High School, Cambridge Home School Online and King's InterHigh.

As an example, King's InterHigh charges £6,670 (Dh33,092) per year for GCSE students, with fees tending to be lower in earlier years, and higher in later years. King's InterHigh is not registered with Dubai's Knowledge and Human Development Authority, but is registered with Cambridge International Education.

Iqra Virtual School, described as Pakistan's first full-time online school, but offering British and other curriculums, bills itself as having “a significant presence” in Gulf countries including the UAE. It says that it has been serving students in the GCC for more than a decade.

India's K8 School also markets itself to UAE-based families, as does Crimson Global Academy, which offers British and American curriculums and has a Dubai office.

The UAE is itself home to online schools, including iCademy Middle East, which is based in Dubai and is accredited by the KHDA.

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives has launched The Digital School, which is based in Dubai and offers Arabic schooling to students worldwide.

Linked to its launch of GST timezone lessons, MVA has appointed a Middle East vice principal, Harry Allen, currently assistant head of secondary at GEMS International School in Dubai.

The school said that increases in waiting lists for schools in the region could cause some parents to look at online schools, with students able to enrol for, say, a year, before transferring to a traditional school once a place becomes available. The growth in populations in the region is another factor that could drive enrolment.

Growing demand

Rachael Wilding, former principal of Smart Vision School Dubai and the founder and director of Edsidera, which provides awards to children from various schools who carry out extra-curricular activities, said that demand for more flexible education may be growing in the Gulf region.

“As the Gulf region grows in diversity and culturally, and with families having a flexible situation, many look for something less rigid in education,” she said.

“Teachers are the most adaptable and I firmly believe, if asked, any teacher could deliver an enriching and positive learning experience online. There are so many tools and digital support platforms to also tap into.”

Not all educators are convinced, however, that online education can replicate everything that children gain from being taught face-to-face.

“When we were in the pandemic and we were teaching the graduate students online by Zoom, it’s not the same,” said Prof Regina Cortina, professor of education at Columbia University in New York.

“We didn’t have the same level of discussion, or people sometimes were participating in the class, sometimes they were not. I would imagine for the high-school students it’s even more complex. It’s very difficult to maintain their attention.

“Just sitting in a computer without any interaction with their peers, it must be extremely lonely for them. Part of school is socialising with the age group … I really support face-to-face interaction.”

Mr Viney insisted that pupils taught online did not lack human interaction, as they connected in assemblies, in live lessons and in after-school clubs.

“They’re also able to chat to each other internally – there’s a chat system,” he said. “They get contact with their teachers, their mentors, and their fellow students in all those different ways.”

There are in-person meetups, including school trips, and Mr Viney said that the decision to launch GST timezone lessons was party about ensuring that students in the region would be better able to take part in these.

Some bricks-and-mortar schools are developing a hybrid model that mixes traditional face-to-face tuition with online lessons.

For example, six years ago British School Muscat took over the governance of British School Salalah, and some GCSE subjects at the Salalah institution have since been taught remotely by teachers at the Muscat school. GCSE students spend about a third of their time being taught face-to-face, a third being taught online and a third on independent study.

Andrea Berry, a British former deputy head teacher of primary at BSS, whose daughter Imogen studied at BSS, described her child’s experiences with online teaching as “genuinely transformative”.

“In subjects she had previously found challenging … particularly the sciences, she not only re-engaged, but began to thrive,” she said.

“The quality of teaching she received from BSM, even at a distance, reignited her confidence … Remote teaching was highly effective in her case. Lessons were structured, engaging and well-resourced. Teachers built strong relationships and provided timely feedback.”

Imogen had additional UK-based online instruction and when she became an A-Level student she continued with some of these tutors alongside her in-person sixth-form lessons, something that her mother said “speaks volumes about the effectiveness of the online approach”.

“For parents considering remote learning, I’d recommend it,” she said.