Responsibilities of early childhood and schools

KHDA’s role is to ensure that Dubai’s private schools are established and operate according to the highest quality standards and in line with our legislation. Our team ensures an ongoing supervision of Dubai schools through regular inspections and international assessments. You can see some of the key responsibilities of the schools below.

Quality assurance

To ensure that schools operate in accordance with the highest quality standards and in accordance with KHDA regulations, they are subject to regular visits from KHDA’s Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB) and KHDA’s Regulations and Permits Commission (RPC).

Whilst the compliance team ensures the school’s adherence to KHDA standards described in the educational permit, the DSIB team assesses teaching and learning, student outcomes and other aspects of the school’s performance. Schools are expected to provide KHDA teams with the necessary information and cooperation to make the visits a success. The DSIB Inspection Handbook details the quality indicators used in inspections.

School fees

School fees in Dubai are governed by the Dubai Framework for Fees of Private Schools.

Advertising

If you are an education provider, you must have written approval from KHDA before you use any advertising or marketing material. Read our KHDA guidelines for more information on the review process and the KHDA framework for approving adverts before they are published.

Appointment of school principal and staff

The appointment and contracts of all private-school staff are overseen by KHDA. As part of the visa application process, appointments need to be verified by our customer-relations team.

In addition to the application form, you will be asked to supply valid copies of the passport and visa, verified education certificates and transcripts, a No Objection Letter from the current sponsor if previously employed in the UAE, a good-conduct certificate and a passport-sized photograph.

All newly appointed school principals are invited to KHDA, along with their school owner or Chair of the Board of Governors, for a full briefing on Dubai's education landscape and to meet key members of the KHDA team before taking up post.

Islamic education and Arabic language teachers are also invited for a meeting with KHDA as part of their appointment process to learn more about the expectations of Dubai in these two subject areas.