KHDA Dubai school inspections  

KHDA DSIB school inspections in Dubai

The Dubai School Inspections Bureau (DSIB) is the school inspection department of the KHDA. The first batch of Dubai school inspections started in October 2008 and covered private and government schools, with schools put into one of 4 categories. Only 4 schools were rated as "Outstanding". The second batch of school inspections starts October 2009 and includes Indian, Pakistani, and Iranian curriculum schools (which were skipped for the first insepctions).

DSIB school inspections October 2009

The second batch of inspections is due to start in October 2009 for all schools in Dubai for the 2009-2010 academic year, including Indian, Iranian, and Pakistani curriclum schools (they missed out the first time around). New initiatives for round 2 include:

• Interviews with 10 parents at each school (but not with students?)
• Online questionnaire with 20 questions for all parents at the time of the inspections (but not for students?)
• Science programs evaluated from Kindergarten (KG) levels (was not examined below grade 6 for 2008-2009)
• Islamic Studies renamed as Islamic Education and will recived more scrutiny

Total number of schools to be surveyed is 82, made up of 36 government schools, and 46 private schools including 24 Indian and Pakistani schools.

DSIB school inspections for Dubai - April-May 2009

The results of the first batch of inspections, conducted in 69 schools in Dubai (24 public schools and 45 private schools) from October to December 2008, were released on 02 April 2009. The second batch of 120 results were released 16 May 2009, and another 31 Indian, Pakistani, and Iranian schools will be inspected during the 2009-2010 academic year (April to March for these schools). There are about 220 schools in Dubai - both private and government).

Dubai schools with KHDA Outstanding ratings

School	KHDA rating	Dubaifaqs satisfaction rating
		02 April 2009				16 May 2009
		Students	Parents	Teachers		Students	Parents	Teachers
JESS Arabian Ranches	Outstanding
Jumeirah College	Outstanding
Jumeirah English Speaking School	Outstanding
Kings Dubai*	Outstanding

*Kings Dubai ratings for 02 April 2009 from very few votes on Dubaifaqs and should not be assumed to be very representative.

Dubai schools with KHDA Good ratings (02 April 2009 and 16 May 2009 reports)

Dubai schools with KHDA Acceptable ratings (02 April 2009 and 16 May 2009 reports)

Dubai schools with KHDA Unsatisfactory ratings

School	KHDA rating	Dubaifaqs satisfaction rating
		02 April 2009				16 May 2009
		Students	Parents	Teachers		Students	Parents	Teachers
Al Ameen Private School	Unsatisfactory
Al Basateen Kindergarten - Hatta	Unsatisfactory
Al Falah Model Private School	Unsatisfactory
Al Hesn Private School	Unsatisfactory
Al Hudaibah Girls Primary School	Unsatisfactory
Al Khulafaa Al Rashideen Primary Boys School	Unsatisfactory
Al Maaref Private School	Unsatisfactory
Al Maktoum Boys School - Cycle 2	Unsatisfactory
Al Shorouq Private School	Unsatisfactory
Al Watan Al Arabi School	Unsatisfactory
Arab Unity School	Unsatisfactory
Deans International School	Unsatisfactory
Dubai American Scientific School	Unsatisfactory
Dubai Arab American Private School	Unsatisfactory
Dubai First School	Unsatisfactory
Dubai Grammar School	Unsatisfactory
European School of Dubai	Unsatisfactory
Mirdif Private School	Unsatisfactory
Mohammed Noor Boys Primary School	Unsatisfactory
Star International School Al Twar	Unsatisfactory
The Oxford School	Unsatisfactory
United International Private School	Unsatisfactory

Dubai school inspections background

The Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB) is the inspections division of the Knowledge & Human Development Authority Dubai (KHDA) and inspects all schools in Dubai to rate them on whether or not they provide a satisfactory education. Usually schools are inspected by a group of inspectors, some of whom are imported from overseas for the job. These inspectors conduct interviews and surveys with parents, students, and staff, observe teachers, and write reports. As you'd expect with an inspecting body or ratings agency, there is some degree of variability introduced depending on the whim of the inspector in attendance, making the results more subjective than one would hope. Each school should be inspected by more than one inspector so any bias should be diluted by the other inspectors.

KHDA inspections put Dubai schools into one of 4 categories: outstanding, good, acceptable and unsatisfactory. The significance of those categories is not just as an information rating for parents and students, but financial and career oriented also. School fee increases are limited by different amounts depending on the KHDA rating, and some teachers who had less than satisfactory ratings resulting in an overall lower rating for the school, have found their teaching careers in Dubai to be somewhat shorter than they expected.

Some would argue that the KHDA inspection results reflect how well the school prepared for the review (schools knew beforehand when inspectors would visit) rather than the quality of education offered. Schools and sacked teachers disgruntled with the KHDA verdicts are more likely to have this point of view, and to say that it doesn't represent what the school is really like. Residents in the UAE who have more than a passing familiarity with schools in Dubai will spot a few apparent anomalies in the list also.

Note that it is not unusual to see major discrepancies between the KHDA ratings, and the Dubai school ratings on the information pages here. For example, half of the KHDA "unsatisfactory" schools are rated by students, parents and teachers as better than the KHDA "outstanding" Jumeirah College. The KHDA ratings are determined by inspectors, while the Dubaifaqs ratings are determined by students, parents and teachers. All 4 groups have different measurement criteria and influences. What conclusions can you draw from the disparity between Dubaifaqs satisfaction ratings and the KHDA ratings? Well, for one, bear in mind that voting on Dubaifaqs is a bit of a free for all, so any ratings that just don't look right, probably aren't. And it might be reasonable to conclude that the KHDA ratings indicate that the DubaiFAQs ratings are nonsense and should be ignored. But tell us what you think. Add a comment to the KHDA school inspection topic.

Individual school rating brief summary reports are available on the KHDA website, usually 3-4 pages as a pdf download, half of which is the same for every school (explaining what the inspectors did and the meaning of the report). The first page lists basic information about the school, then lists strengths, and areas in which improvement is required, but not much else. The schools themselves get a more comprehensive report.

KHDA and school fee increases in Dubai

Up until 2009, schools in Dubai were limited to a 16% increase in school fees every 2 years. Sometimes exceptions were made for schools moving to new premises, for example the Dubai Modern High School in March 2009. Other schools may choose to forego the right to a fees increase in lieu of no rent increase on the land on which they are situated. This table lists the annual (not biennial) fees increase permitted by the KHDA depending on the school rating.

Parent satisfaction survey Dubai Schools

The KHDA released results on 12 May 2009 of a survey of Dubai parents and their satisfaction with Dubai schools, or what they thought their children thought (why the KHDA didn't survey the students is unknown), based on rating 16 statements such as "My child enjoys being at school", "My child is treated fairly in the school". There were 30,000 parents surveyed of which 22,000 replied. About 90%-95% of them thought their children enjoyed being at school and were receiving a good education, which seems to jar somewhat with the parent satisfaction ratings seen for Dubai schools. The complete results were not made available by the KHDA, just a summary in a press release.

Last update Tuesday 29-Sep-2009

Related pages

• Knowledge & Human Development Authority - KHDA Dubai information
• KHDA inspection results - forum topic, add your thoughts about the results.
• Dubai schools - a list of private schools in Dubai, or see the list of new schools in Dubai.
• UAE school finder - find schools in other emirates

Related websites (open in new window)

• www.khda.gov.ae - KHDA website (in Arabic and English) with pdf downloads of school reports
• Dubai directory - add your link free

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