Indian & Pakistani Inspection KHDA Ratings Revealed
The 2018 Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) inspection report on Indian and Pakistani schools has revealed that five Indian curriculum schools improved their ratings, while one declined.
Jump: Complete 2018 list of Dubai's Indian Schools with 2018 Ratings
The results of the ninth round of school inspections revealed that 69% of students are in ‘Good’ schools as compared to 45% in 2009-2010 (the first year of inspecting Indian schools).
There are 34 Indian curriculum schools in Dubai. Three were not inspected as they are new and the KHDA gives schools two years to settle before starting inspections.
Out of the 31 Indian curriculum schools inspected during the 2017-18 inspection cycle, only one was rated Outstanding, five were rated Very Good, 12 Good, 10 Acceptable and three were found to be Weak. No Indian curriculum schools was rated very weak.
GEMS Modern Academy retained its Outstanding, while Indian High School that has been Outstanding for the past 6 years fell to Very Good this year. GEMS Modern is now the only Outstanding rated Indian curriculum school in the UAE.
A number of schools made their way up the rankings however. Ambassador Kindergarten moved from Good to Very Good. Springdales, The Indian Academy and Credence High School all rose from Acceptable to Good.
Bilva Indian School moved from Weak to Acceptable. Amled School was rated Acceptable in its first inspection.
Arabic attainment and Islamic education are still an area of improvement, but schools overall have progressed in these areas compared to the previous years.
Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Director General of Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) said:
"We are continuing to see year-on-year progress by Indian curriculum. They have shown a strong improving trend in TIMSS and PISA assessments, which are an important part of our national agenda and this correlates with the overall inspection findings. Their improvement in the performance of math, science, reading and other related skills reflect our emphasis on achieving national agenda goals leading to UAE Vision 2021. By improving provisioning for national agenda targets, Indian curriculum schools are directly contributing to the development of a first-rate education system.”
Most Indian curriculum schools, almost 6 in 10 (58%), were seen to be making better progress for students with determination (Special Needs).
>> Read More on SEN provision: No student to be left behind
>> Read More on the criteria for ratings: Indian School Reports - Deciphering the Results
Leadership at Indian and Pakistani schools improved from 56% to 72% with a ‘good’ or better judgment. Other areas of improvement included English attainment that rose by 14% from 2017 to 66% in 2018, self-evaluation increased by 11% from last year to 55% and governance boosted 13% to 65% in this year’s cycle.
Fatma Belrehif, Executive Director of Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB) said:
“Indian-curriculum schools showed improvements in key performance indicators like leadership, self-evaluation and governance. This is very encouraging, as we know that these are powerful enablers, and that improvements in these areas are strong predictors of progress in overall performance.”
A new criteria used to evaluate schools is the emphasis on a moral education, which looks at the school's curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment.
While the subject was introduced in September 2017, the KHDA is still finding tools and designing an inspection framework for moral education. However, the report said: “Schools are fully committed to implementing moral education, but are not yet formally assessing student outcomes.”
Dubai’s two Pakistani Schools, Pakistan Education Academy and HH Sheikh Rashid al Maktoum Pakistan School, fared less well this year with both schools’ progress towards national agenda targets below expectations and both are still considered Weak for self-evaluation and governance.
The two schools, serving 2,830 students in total, were rated Acceptable' and Weak.
