Authority to Use Same Inspection Criteria for All Asian SchoolsPublish Date: 2009-07-04 10:00:08 Story Code: 17382 DUBAI – Asian schools will follow the same framework that had been applied to international curricula schools in the next cycle of quality inspections, according to the emirate’s education regulatory authority.
Around 31 Indian, Pakistani and Iranian schools in Dubai had not been inspected by the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB) in the first cycle of inspections carried out between October 2008 and April 2009 in 189 public and private schools. The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) had stalled the inspections of Asian schools due to the difference in the commencement of the academic year in relation to other international curricula. “We will follow the same process of inspections. Inspections will start during the Indian/Pakistani academic year,” said Jameela Al Muhairi, chief of KHDA’s Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau. Dr. Farooq Wasil, director of Asian Schools, GEMS, which has more than six Asian schools in Dubai, said the framework for inspecting Asian schools should have been different from that which is applied to schools which follow international curricula. “The framework should have been developed in tandem with the curriculum it is affiliated to since the specifications differ,” he said. According to India’s Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) directives, a classroom can accommodate around 40 students but schools in the UAE are restricted to a lower number. The quality of education in Asian schools, Dr. Wasil said, needs to be judged on the basis of the students’ results. “These schools have been delivering quality education for a number of years now. The branding of these schools is based on the board results which recently revealed that our students are doing much better than their counterparts in the parent country,” he said. Asian schools had received the guidelines and criteria for inspections last year. “We are following the common guidelines that have been provided and we are fine-tuning our school for the inspections,” said Ashok Kumar, principal and CEO of Indian High School, Dubai. Asma Malik, principal of His Highness Shaikh Rashid Al Maktoum Pakistan School, said, “It is a challenge, but we are trying to upgrade our facilities and trying to change the overall atmosphere of teaching and learning in the classroom.” According to Dr. Wasil, most Asian schools have been functioning on low fee points which could have been a hindrance to quality. “We have had internal controls in driving the quality of education in our schools so are ready for these inspections, but sometimes a suitable fee structure is required for enhancement. For many such schools who are unable to provide good education at low fees, the KHDA needs to support them,” added Dr. Wasil. © Khaleej Times 2009. All rights reserved. Share this story:  Digg
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