Mixed views on school self-assessment system

Dubai - High-ranked private schools in Dubai can now help out the under-performing schools, in exchange for skipping the stringent annual school inspections... but parents aren't happy

dubai - The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) recently unveiled an initiative which has sparked a lot of interest in the Dubai education community.
Top performing private schools in Dubai will now have the opportunity to opt out of yearly inspections, in exchange for helping under- or poor-performing schools, under KHDA's new Abundance Group project.
In return for knowledge sharing, schools ranked 'outstanding' or 'very good' - there are 29 of these in Dubai - can now opt to self-assess their annual performance, avoiding the central authority's laborious inspection process.
Though the news has been well received by many education groups, some parents have raised concerns over its impact on education costs.
Parents voice concerns
One father, Vijay (full name withheld), said although the idea is "nice and forward thinking", he fears it will see an increase in the number of high-ranked schools, which would hike the school fees in turn. "Essentially, schooling will become even more unaffordable," he said.
In response, James Mullan, co-founder of Which School Advisor (WSA), said that though this scenario is a possible one, he is hopeful it wouldn't become a trend following the initiative.
"There is no doubt this is a key concern for parents. As schools move up in the rankings, they are entitled to increase the fees. But as far as this initiative goes, I think a hike in fees is unlikely, as the process will be closely monitored by KHDA."
Mullan also brought up the opening of 17 new schools in Dubai, this September. "(When it comes to education here), the word 'choice' has been introduced into parents' vocabulary over the last four years. The new buzzword you will see now is 'affordable'." Many of the new schools opening in the 2016-2017 academic year are pitched at a "very decent price level", he said.
"Some schools are priced at Dh17,000 per year for foundation level, and up to Dh29,000 for year six. Choice was a game changer, but now affordable is, too."
Pakistani expatriate and mother of three Ambreen Arsalan is skeptical of the self-assessment factor. "If a school skips inspection, there is no guarantee it will stay very good/outstanding as before. It's the KHDA 'stick' that keeps schools on their toes. KHDA is also a relief window for parents, in worse case scenarios."
An Abundant initiative
A big supporter of the new initiative is Clive Pierrepont, Director of Communications for Taaleem. "The aim of this collaborative venture is to benefit all students, through sharing best practice across schools and their communities. We are greatly in favour of this - in terms of helping improve education and opportunities for all students, as well as the Abundance Group that will benefit immensely from professional exchanges of what works," he told Khaleej Times.
For Indian expatriate Sundaragopal Sundaresh, the news is positive.
"In my opinion, self-assessment will give top rated schools the chance to see themselves in a mirror and correct or maintain their status,"he says.
However, Sundaresh thinks the schools will only be interested in their own ranking status. "Every school will try to maintain a higher status and their own name/reputation, rather than helping other low-rated schools raise their levels, and eventually become a competitor."
What could follow...
The success of this new initiative will largely depend on the quality of interaction between both parties, Fatma Belrehif, Executive Director of Dubai School Inspection Bureau (DSIB) said.
The self-assessment element won't be limited to how the school marks itself on performance. It will also look at how they have given back to the community by helping other schools.
The last inspection results saw 16 private schools in Dubai ranked 'outstanding', 13 with 'very good' status, 57 'good', 56 'acceptable', and seven ranked 'weak'. Thus, 29 schools now have the opportunity to help out one of 120 other schools.
Initially, there is bound to be an inherent reluctance from weaker schools who may feel patronised by the involvement of competitor schools, but if approached the right way, this initiative could really benefit the education sector.
kelly@khaleejtimes.com

KHDA's new initiative - a textbook approach?
> High ranking private schools can now help under-performing schools, in exchange for skipping annual inspections
> Parents worry self-assessing schools will hike fees and drop in quality without KHDA supervision
> Education professionals say schooling will become more affordable, improve best practices sharing across schools, education quality, and opportunities for students
> Self-assessing schools will also be gauged on how much they help other schools
> Lower-ranking schools could initally feel patronised by higher ranked ones
 

• UAE