SPEA Announces School Inspection Results

Sharjah Private Education Authority (SPEA) has published details of the Itqan inspection results for the 111 private schools - educating some 181,175 students - that were visited by inspection teams from Sharjah Education Academy during the current (2022-23) academic year. 

In line with direction from the Ministry of Education, all private and public schools are expected to participate in inspections on an annual or bi-annual basis (which varies from one emirate to another). 

Whilst schools in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been inspected, and reports published, since 2012, the inspection of schools in Sharjah and the Northern Emirates has been more sporadic and without publication of the results for the most part.  All UAE schools are now inspected using the same common inspection framework - further details can be found here.

The information released by SPEA today on social media indicates that only one school has been awarded the highest rating of Outstanding - this is GEMS Millennium School Private School.

The nine schools rated Very Good include Australian International School, Ambassador School, Dehli Private School, GEMS Cambridge International School, Lycée Français Georges Pompidou, Our Own English High School for Boys, Our Own English High School for Girls, Sharjah English School, and Victoria International School Sharjah. SPEA also highlighted that GEMS Cambridge International School and Victoria International School have also improved to Very Good in Arabic as a First Language.

Including the ten schools rated Outstanding or Very Good, fifty-four schools, representing 49 per cent of those evaluated, provided at least a “Good” standard of education, whilst 53 were found to be “Acceptable”, and three schools were rated “Weak”. No school was ranked “Very Weak”.

Commenting on the results, a spokesperson for SPEA said:
“The results mark a significant milestone for the SPEA in its continuous commitment to enhance the quality of private education in Sharjah.” “However, SPEA … emphasised the need for continuous support, professional development programmes for educators, and regular review visits to schools achieving “acceptable” or lower levels to ensure future improvement.”

SPEA has also included a list of schools that have improved by two ratings since the previous (unpublished) inspections.  These include GEMS Millennium School, Australian International School, Ambassador School, Al Kamal American International School Al Azra, Al Kamal American International School Halwan, The Modern American International School and Al Shola School (branch 1). 

Details of all individual school ratings are currently being uploaded to the SPEA website.  WhichSchoolAdvisor.com will add inspection reports to the Sharjah school reviews as they become available.