KHDA Launches IB Partnership as Curriculum Interest Surges

Schools following the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum in Dubai are facing high demand, with enrolments growing by 66 percent, according to a Gulf News report. As a result the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) is upping its bench marking of IB schools. The KHDA reports will now be made jointly with IB officials according to an announcement made by Dubai's educational regulator today.  IB representatives will accompany the KHDA's Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB) inspectors during their visits to IB schools. They will also ensure that DSIB inspectors are kept up-to-date with IB curriculum developments as well as assure schools that inspection judgments are accurate. IB officials will support KHDA providing the regulator's partners strategic advice on setting up or expanding IB schools. Six schools currently provide the full IB curriculum in Dubai, while others offer an IB programme for specific grade levels with a combined enrollment of more than 5,000 students. The IB curriculum is one of 13 offered by Dubai’s private schools. Students from IB curriculum schools were found to have the highest proficiency among Dubai’s private school students in mathematics, reading and science in the 2009 international benchmarking exam Programme for International Assessment (PISA), scoring 30 points above the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average of 500.