DUBAI // Most private schools did not improve their overall rankings, inspection results released yesterday by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) show.
And more than 100,000 private school pupils receive only an acceptable or unsatisfactory education. KHDA, the emirate's education watchdog, inspected 138 schools.
Thirteen schools were rated unsatisfactory, 65 were found to be acceptable and 49 good. Nine schools dropped a rank this year.
A total of 95,249 pupils received an education regarded as acceptable, while 10,988 received one graded unsatisfactory.
But 11 schools, five more than last year, received an outstanding rating in the latest report. There are 58,872 more pupils attending top-rated schools in Dubai than there were in 2008-2009 when the inspections were initiated.
The Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB), the inspections arm of KHDA, said in a report that despite the improvement at schools in the past four years, the pace of progress had slowed.
"In 2010-11, around 56 per cent of students attended acceptable or unsatisfactory schools. This year this percentage has reduced only slightly, to 54 per cent," the report said.
"Although fewer students attend such schools in comparison with the first year of inspection, a significant number of these schools have been unsatisfactory over the full period of inspection."
Dr Abdulla Al Karam, the director general of KHDA, said underperforming schools would continue to feel pressure.
"Some take longer to improve," Dr Al Karam said. "But they better wake up or they will find themselves out of business. It is in the parents' hands."
Despite an overall grim report on the quality of education, a survey of parents during the inspections revealed 89 per cent were satisfied.
Amna Al Falasi, an Emirati with children at Al Mizhar American Academy for Girls (AAG) and Universal American School, is one of them.
"I think the schools are providing them with the opportunities they need to tap their potential," said Ms Al Falasi who has two girls and a boy at the schools, which were rated good. "The schools are flexible and they are always ready to change."
But she said there was room for improvement in Arabic and Islamic education, an opinion shared by the inspections committee.
"I think that is a minus point in all private schools here," Ms Al Falasi said.
A mother whose daughter attends primary school at the International School of Choueifat said she agreed with the report, and was unhappy with the school's acceptable rating.
"I think they need to do more at the lower stages to stimulate the children," she said. "They should be doing more out of the textbook."
The report found schools ranked as acceptable had not shown much improvement. On the other hand, those rated outstanding displayed high levels of pupil engagement, enhanced teaching strategies and followed an enriched curriculum.
Jameela Al Muhairi, the chief of DSIB, said the bureau noticed a continuing improvement but several shortcomings still existed in the low-quality schools.
"Quality of teaching and learning, leadership and curriculum need to be improved," Ms Al Muhairi said.
"Assessments conducted do not inform about the pupils progress and capability. Self-evaluation conducted by the leaders did not reflect the reality of the school."
She said most schools were unaware of the care and educational support needed by children with special needs, and lacked professionals equipped to handle them.
The report also found that while English, mathematics and science teaching had improved, standards in Arabic instruction faltered.
Ms Al Muhairi said the degree of improvement in students' progress in Arabic over the four-year inspection period continued to be "considerably less than in other key subjects".
"KHDA will not allow this to continue," she said. "It is important that Arab pupils are able to use their mother tongue confidently."
Pupils in most private schools in Dubai are not progressing well in Arabic.
Native speakers were most affected as many schools failed to provide a proper programme to help them to be fluent in their mother tongue.
Few schools were also following the general requirements laid down by the Ministry of Education to teach Arabic and Islamic education.
"These students are taught as additional learners, which means they are often not challenged or supported to reach required levels in their mother tongue, of which they are capable," Ms Al Muhairi said.
Maya Hindi, vice principal of the Dubai Carmel School, which received an acceptable rating, said the authority must give schools more time for efforts to show.
"Inspections have been a learning process," Ms Hindi said. "But we are also dealing with factors that affect our rate of progress, like a restricted fee structure and short time to show results. We need a gap of at least two years to make a significant difference."
The school has been asked to improve its self-evaluation process and better meet the needs of pupils with learning difficulties.
Ms Hindi said one of the recommendations the school found hard to work on was measuring pupils' performance.
"This was new for us and was a challenge," she said. "We have an action plan but its application will take time."
None of the schools following the national curriculum received a good or higher rating this year. There are 16,197 pupils at these schools.
"The overall performance of these schools remains broadly the same as last year, with almost all being evaluated as acceptable," the report said.
This year's results show the best teaching and learning practices are at schools following the UK and International Baccalaureate curriculums. French schools also received glowing report cards, with strong leadership and responsive governance as the biggest development.
"In all four [French] schools, students demonstrate excellent behaviour and positive attitudes to learning," the report said.
All five Iranian schools, on their first round of inspections, were rated as acceptable.
The report also found that only a third of the 30 American system campuses used official US state standards to plan lessons and assessments.
Results for the Indian and Pakistani schools were announced earlier this year.
All results and individual reports can be found on www.khda.gov.ae
aahmed@thenational.ae
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MORE ON TURKEY'S SYRIA OFFENCE
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
'O'
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Price, base / as tested From Dh173,775 (base model)
Engine 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo, AWD
Power 249hp at 5,500rpm
Torque 365Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Gearbox Nine-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined 7.9L/100km
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mountain%20Boy
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
