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Seven schools improve their overall rating in the latest school inspection report by the Dubai School Inspection Bureau (DSIB).

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) reported significant improvements for Indian curriculum schools in Dubai in its latest school inspection report.

Of the 29 Indian curriculum schools inspected in Dubai, two have been rated outstanding, three very good, 11 good, 11 acceptable and two were found to be weak. A total of seven schools improved their overall school rating compared to the last year; with three schools moving from good to very good while four schools improved from acceptable to good. None of the Indian curriculum schools declined in their overall judgements.

This year, all private schools in Dubai were inspected using the new UAE School Inspection Framework, which evaluates the quality of educational provision on six levels – outstanding, very good, good, acceptable, weak and very weak.

The results for Indian curriculum schools marked a significant improvement over the performance observed in previous years with 67% of students (52,144) now attending schools that provide a good or better quality of education. This represents a significant improvement of 22 percentage points since the first round of inspections by the Dubai School Inspection Bureau (DSIB) in 2009-2010.

“Indian curriculum schools have witnessed significant improvements and school inspectors have observed gains in most aspects of school life, including teaching, learning skills, assessment, parental engagement, governance and leadership. The improvement in the quality of leadership at these schools has led to a better quality of education” said Fatma Belrehif, Executive Director of the DSIB.

The report also highlights the extent to which Indian curriculum schools have participated in the National Agenda Parameter. This was introduced last year by KHDA to help ensure that all Dubai private schools participate in international and external benchmarking assessments, other than TIMSS and PISA.

“We want to help schools measure and monitor their progress towards achieving their individual UAE National Agenda targets. The inspection findings will assist schools in reviewing and meeting these targets while working collaboratively to make progress and help improve the quality of education,” said Ms. Belrehif.

The key findings report also noted an improvement in the provision for students with special educational needs and disabilities. These students were making better levels of progress in their learning and development.

Other key findings highlighted in the report:
  1. Students’ learning skills were judged to be good or better in 62% of lessons observed.
  2. 63% of lessons observed by DSIB inspectors have been judged as having good or better teaching
  3. Provision for students’ health and safety is good or better in 85% of schools;
  4. 86% per cent of schools now enjoy good or outstanding links with parents and their local community
  5. School self-evaluation is now good or better in 51% of schools
  6. 65% of Indian curriculum schools now benefit from good or better leadership
  7. The quality of governance in Indian curriculum schools has improved from 20% to 72% since the first inspection cycle.
Indian Curriculum Schools in Dubai at a glance
  1. Total number of Indian curriculum schools: 32
  2. Number of students in the 32 Indian curriculum schools: 78,716
  3. Number of Indian curriculum schools inspected this academic year: 29
  4. Number of students in the 29 Indian curriculum schools: 77,431
  5. New Indian curriculum schools not yet inspected: 3
  6. Number of Indian curriculum schools inspected for the first time this academic year: 4
  7. Number of students in the 32 Indian curriculum schools as a percentage of the total number of students in all private schools in Dubai: 30%
  8. Number of teachers in Indian curriculum schools: 4,613
- KHDA