DUBAI - The Ministry of Education has appealed to guardians of students of 17 select private schools to participate in a survey being conducted and give their feedback to the ministry about the performance of the schools.
Being conducted by the ministry’s Supervision and Control Office for Private Schools, the 35-item questionnaire aims at gauging the satisfaction levels of parents about the performance and quality of schools.
The findings will guide the ministry in introducing steps to improve quality of education according to the capabilities of students academically and socially, and allow parents to make better choices for their children.
Dr Mariam Ahmed Nasser, Director of the office, said in a letter she sent to parents and school administrations that responses to the questionnaire would be handled with top confidentiality.
“Parents are being asked about tuition fees, school response mechanism for parents’ complaints, and policies dealing with safety and discipline,” she added.
Answers of parents will be classified under two categories: importance (not important, not important or very important) and quality (A-B-C-D-E-F).
The study seeks feedback on quality of teaching, qualifications of teachers, learning and teaching methods, school building, size of the classroom and extracurricular activities.
Parents are being asked to explain the rationale behind enrolling their children in a particular school and whether they are planning to keep their children in the same school next year. They are also being asked about the progress their children make in schools.
Sources at the Supervision and Control Office said nine schools from Sharjah, one from Umm Al Quwain, two from Ajman, four from Ras Al Khaimah and one from Sharjah Educational Office are being surveyed.
The findings will be analysed in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education. Parents, however, said they had no idea about the questionnaire and that school administrations had not informed them about it. They called for greater participation.
Ibrahim Ali from Ajman Educational Zone said two schools — one following the ministry’s curricula and an Asian community school — were taking part in the survey.
Mohsen Rashid