Dubai Schools Rising: 10 Yrs of KHDA Ratings

It is the Knowledge and Human Development Authority’s (KHDA) tenth year of doing school inspections in Dubai. This journey has seen 1,416 inspections, 137,207 lessons, 113,242 students surveyed and 389,670 parents surveyed.

Out of the 194 schools in Dubai, 166 schools were part of the 2017/18 inspection cycle with a total of 281,432 students.

Also See

KHDA 2017/18 Reports - Which Schools Are Up?
How to read the KHDA reports
The KHDA Ratings 2017/18 Complete Table

Of these, 14 schools are rated Outstanding as compared to 16 in the previous cycle, 27 were rated Very Good versus 14 schools in 2016/17, 68 schools have been rated Good, just one down from last year, 51 rated Acceptable and 6 were considered Weak, down from 10 in the 2016/17.

In 2008-2009 the number of schools judged good or better was 38, while the number of schools judged good or better in 2017-2018 has increased to 109.

Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Director General of the KHDA said: “We can see a significant improvement in these 10 years. Now 66% of all students attend good or better schools, an increase of 36 percentage points from our first inspection."

Here are some key findings from the 10 years of inspections:

• 77% of students attending a UK curriculum school are in good or better schools, an increase of 42 percentage points since 2008-2009.
• 29 US curriculum schools were inspected in 2017-18 with 57% of students in good or better schools. This is an increase of 27 percentage points.
• 69% of students attending an Indian curriculum school are in good or better schools, an increase of 24 percentage points.
• 94% students attending an IB curriculum school are in good or better schools, an increase of 81 percentage points.
• 40 new schools started operating and were inspected in the past ten years with 17 of the 40 improving in their overall performance.
• 95% of schools this year met or exceeded expectations in overall improvement towards meeting the National Agenda targets as compared to 93% last year.

Most schools have been showing steady improvements in almost all performance standards and indicators, in spite of expectations becoming more demanding and rigorous over the years. 

School inspections were introduced in Dubai with an aim to provide a comprehensive view of the quality of education and contribute significantly to their improvement.

Fatma Belrehif, Executive Director of Dubai School Inspection Bureau said: 

“In the past ten years, we have witnessed dramatic changes in the educational landscape in Dubai. Parents are now much more likely to enrol their children in a ‘good’ school than before the introduction of school inspections. A major focus of the past ten years has been to raise the quality of learning experiences and to enhance students’ overall achievements and wellbeing."

The report also noted progress made by schools in social studies, moral education, innovation and provision for students of determination. “We have had almost 3 million downloads of our inspection report in the last 10 years, which shows a positive engagement with the schools, students, parents and the community. Going forward we want to ensure that education remains focused on the well-being of students.

Our focus will be on happiness that positively impacts children,” explained Dr Abdulla.