DUBAI — Ministry of Education is in the process of establishing its own accreditation body for private and public schools and would also look at hiring well-qualified teachers to improve the quality of teaching, said Minister of Education Dr Hanif Hassan.
In an interview with Khaleej Times, he said: “We see accreditation as a means of providing quality education in our schools and also to establish baseline standards.
Tuition fee
“We are exploring various methods to achieve this end, including the establishment of our own accreditation body,” he said.
Dr Hassan said the ministry would keep tuition fees at affordable levels, adding that education councils in each emirate would work closely with the schools to ensure the fees they charge were on a par with quality of education provided by them.
“Dr Hassan added the ministry would be demanding more from the teachers like higher qualifications and utilisation of modern teaching techniques.
“In doing so, we will provide compensation based on those higher qualifications and the performance of the teachers in improving student learning.”
Conceding that obesity among the children is a major concern for the ministry, he said: “We will do our part by providing education on healthy lifestyles and by offering healthy food in our schools.”
Observing that the ministry’s intervention would alone not solve the problem, Dr Hassan said: “It is a larger societal matter that must enlist the support of parents and other agencies.
By Preeti Kannan (Our staff reporter)