DUBAI — Five schools, both public and private, in Dubai were subjected to scrutiny on Sunday by the emirate’s education authority, following its decision earlier this year to raise the standard of education.
A total of 69 schools will be inspected between October and December by Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB) as part of its Initial Quality Inspections this year, according to a Press release.
The bureau, a part of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), aims to inspect over 200 schools by the end of 2008-09 academic year.
The authority, however, declined to disclose the names of the schools where the inspections began on Sunday.
The bureau will distribute 20,000 parent questionnaires and 1,500 teacher questionnaires as part of the evidence gathering during the first series of inspections. A full inspection report will be shared with each school six weeks after inspection by the bureau so that the schools can draw up their action and improvement plan. A summary report will also be made available on the KHDA web site — www.khda.gov.ae — for the parents and public.
Inspectors will spend three to five days in each school, after which an individual report will be prepared.
The inspection teams will use a range of evidence to review the work of each school, including observation of classes, interviews with students and staff, examination results and parent questionnaires. The inspectors will also consider other self-evaluation evidence provided by the school.
Jameela Al Muhairi, Chief of DSIB, said, “Accurate and rigorous self-evaluation is an essential feature of an effective school. If schools can demonstrate that they accurately know their own strengths and weaknesses and have the capacity to improve, then the need for immediate re-inspection or subsequent focused support will be reduced.
“To support schools, the bureau will offer workshops on self-evaluation based on international best practices.”
The Schools Agency will offer training in self-evaluation for all public schools. “We are very excited and pleased that this day has come where we begin the actual inspections in Dubai and give parents useful and reliable information about school quality which will assist informed school choices,” she added.
preeti@khaleejtimes.com