DUBAI — The newly-established Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB) yesterday warned that schools could face closure if they did not conform to set standards.
Inspectors from DSIB, a bureau of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), will also draw up an annual and individual reports on the schools, based on inspections.
Jameela Al Muhairi, chief of DSIB, yesterday said: “Any major weakness in any school will be notified (to the school) and it will be re-inspected in a period of three to six months. If they still do not meet the standards, we will take serious action. We would not close the school immediately, but revisit them and take a decision.”
She said that schools would be given time to improvise and inspectors would revisit the institute. However, if the school still failed to meet standards set by the bureau and follow the recommendations, stern action would be initiated.
Beginning this October, officials will inspect and evaluate all schools, irrespective of the curriculum they follow, in the emirate for the progress of students, curriculum, quality of teaching and the effectiveness of the school’s management and leadership in an attempt to improve the quality of education in the emirate.
Inspectors will spend three to five days in each school, after which an individual report will be prepared.
From June next year, the bureau will also bring out an annual report indicating the overall performance of the school, based on the seven criteria set by the bureau. The report would be available on KHDA and the school’s web sites.
Jameela, however, emphasised that schools will not be ranked or graded. “As an authority, we will not rank a school,” she said, observing that expatriates from all over the world come to live in Dubai and it was important for parents to know where to send their wards.
“Without this inspection, parents will not know where to go. This (report) is a government indicator that schools are meeting standards,” she added.
Views of parents and teachers would also be taken into consideration during inspection and they would be sent questionnaires to fill in.
Teachers' salaries, interestingly, will not be part of the evaluation. However, officials believe that if the quality of education has to be improved, salaries of teachers would eventually be improved.
Meanwhile, representatives of government and private schools will gather tomorrow for a one-day conference on ‘The Role of Inspection in School Improvement’ at Zayed University.
The conference will be attended by around 500 principals, school owners, and parent representatives from both government and private schools across Dubai.
Experts from the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and India will be present at the event.