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'New year, Same Grade'

DUBAI - Grades for most schools haven't changed much over the previous year following the second round of inspections by the Dubai education authority.

Of the 209 public and private schools tOf the 209 public and private schools that were inspected this year, 133 were given the same overall rating. This year, 23 Indian and Pakistani curricula schools were also included in the inspection process.

The schools were inspected between October 2009 and March 2010 by a team from the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau in seven criteria and subjects ranging from Islamic Education and Arabic, English, Mathematics and Science.

Inspection reports compiled by the DSIB revealed that nine out of every 10 schools provided an 'acceptable' quality of education in Dubai. More than 110,000 students attend schools with an 'acceptable' status.

The head of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) said every school had worked to raise standards this year.

"We have seen an overwhelming response from both public and private schools towards progress, though varied with some taking single steps to those making big changes," said Dr Abdulla Al Karam, director-general of KHDA.

"These steps that result in the betterment of the education in the emirate matters more than the grade the school makes."

The second cycle of inspections concluded with five schools deemed 'outstanding' and 25 receiving the lowest grade of 'unsatisfactory'. The other schools fell in the 'good' and 'acceptable' categories.

Though no major shake-ups were evident, the authority noticed a significant improvement in the public education system this year. Seventeen private schools slipped a level, most due to inadequate teaching and learning standards in Islamic Education and Arabic.

Nine public schools and 19 private schools jumped a level, including seven schools that received 'unsatisfactory' in the first round of inspections in 2008-2009.

Teaching methods were revamped in many public schools, said Jameela Al Muhairi, Chief of Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB). "Last year we saw a lot of acceptable teaching at public schools, but this year we did find some good and outstanding methods applied in the classroom," she said.

"This shows that the public schools are open to new practices with children actively involved in their learning."

Lack of governance at many government schools was highlighted during the first round of inspections. Now, four in 10 good or outstanding schools are government owned.

Karam said public school administrations had taken up the challenge to improve. "In the first year, the key messages were some of the common challenges we face in schools in terms of administration and curriculum," he said.

"This year we saw the schools working towards overcoming these challenges."

For private education providers the bar was raised with an emphasis on teaching and students' progress in Arabic and religious studies. Flaws were noticed in most schools following the UK and US curricula. Arabic education was found unsatisfactory in one-third of Indian schools.

The Uptown High School, owned by education provider Taaleem maintained its 'acceptable' grade this year. Clive Pierrepont, director of Communciations said it was unexpected. "We were naturally disappointed that the inspectors didn't reward the tremendous strides our school had made in the last year," he said.

"Unlike other secondary schools Uptown High is not selective and caters for all abilities and naturally some students had not achieved the very high levels of academic achievement when compared to highly selective schools."

However, all the other schools under Taaleem received a good ranking.

School inspections were introduced by the KHDA in 2008-2009 in 189 public and private schools. Last year, there were four 'outstanding' 66 'good' 97 'acceptable' and 22 'unsatisfactory' schools.

Individual school results can be accessed on www.khda.gov.ae.

• Dubai