AMLED school is an Indian curriculum school located in the Al Qouz Industrial area, in close proximity to a number of other Indian curriculum schools, including Credence High School and Springdales Dubai.

In August 2021, one week ahead of the start of the second semester, it was announced that AMLED school was closing. The school owners' cited the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on student numbers as a significant factor.  Full details can be found here.

The story so far...

AMLED school is a joint venture between the Sacred Heart CMI province Rajagiri, Kochi, in collaboration with AMLED Facilities Management LLC and was apparently set up at the request of benefactors, parents and former students associated with the CMI province.

Education has been a major focus of CMI with its first school at Mannanam opening in 1846. It now operates a range of educational institutions ranging from Pre-primary schools to Deemed University.

Among those included in the CMI schools are the well-known and highly respected Rajagiri schools.  This association is reflected in the background of the Governors of AMLED, which include Fr. Jose Alex, the former Principal of Rajagiri College of Social Sciences for thirteen years. He was subsequently the Director and Manager of Rajagiri Educational Institutions. Dr. Mathew Vattathara, the Director of AMLED School, was the Manager and Coordinator of Rajagiri Institutions and was the Principal of Rajagiri School for 6 years. The Principal of AMLED School, Varghese Puthusserry, was the Principal of Rajagiri Schools for 3 years and Rector of Rajagiri boarding house for 6 years. It would seem that the school's leaders really have Rajagiri influences in their bones.

AMLED School’s Motto – “Child Centered, Family Focused, Community Oriented” - points to its ethos:

“We focus on the development of the whole child, encompassing the social, emotional, spiritual, physical and cultural needs alongside the academic and intellectual progress. The driving force of what we do comes from knowing our students - their needs, characteristics and well-being”.

The school’s first KHDA inspection took place in December 2017, when it was rated Acceptable. This is the minimum rating expected by the KHDA for all schools, whose target is to ensure that schools are rated Good or above. It is, however, rare for a school to achieve above Acceptable on first inspection.

The school follows the CBSE curriculum and aims to deliver an education that focuses on encouraging inquiry, exploration and on inculcating confidence in key learning skills – reading, writing, listening, speaking, information technology capability, problem-solving, observation and measurement. Children are encouraged to speak and perform at assemblies, concerts, drama productions, and gain confidence in their ability to communicate to a wider audience.

The curriculum emphasises the need for greater attention to be paid to students with special educational needs and attention to the needs of gifted children. In addition, Dance, Fine Arts, Theatre, Western and Indian Music, Speech and Drama and Yoga are part of the regular curriculum, offered as co-curricular and core activity programmes

Located in a large purpose-built, though not especially inspiringly-designed, building in the Industrial area of Al Qouz, AMLED school occupies a site that ensures adequate facilities within the building, although outdoor PE space is at something of a premium.

The kindergarten classrooms, where play is an integral part of the curriculum, all open out onto large shaded outdoor areas filled with high quality play equipment for games and fun. All the play areas have rubberized, soft flooring.

Shared facilities include a library, which is used by all children as an integral part of their learning as it offers a quiet study space and includes online sources, as well as hardcopies. The schools believes that children should be given the opportunities to engage in a broad and rich ICT curriculum that provides motivation, enthusiasm, enjoyment and develops lifelong skills. It has a well equipped ICT infrastructure which includes laptops, i-pads and interactive whiteboards in every classroom.

In addition, the school also offers an Art Studio, encouraging creative activity and a Music studio where children from Kindergarten onwards are given the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of classroom music activities. The school aims to provide performance opportunities for children throughout the school, in order to develop confidence, a sense of pride and self-esteem.

PE facilities, which include a splash pool and swimming pool, are aimed at facilitating a well-balanced programme of sport including football, basketball, swimming, athletics, gymnastics and aerobics. The multi-purpose auditorium, which has a seating capacity of 600, is used for inter-house competitions, indoor sports and assemblies.

What the inspectors say

AMLED School Dubai has been rated Good for the second time in its third inspection in the 2019-20 KHDA inspection process.  The full inspection report can be found under the Inspection report tab.  

Most areas of the inspection were rated either Good or Acceptable. The inspectors noted that the best aspects of the school were the purposeful learning environment, the caring, well behaved and respectful students, the good provision for health, care and support for students, and the level of achievement of Primary and Middle phase students in English, Mathematics and Science, which were rated Good across all three subjects. Students’ personal development was adjudged to be Very Good.

Main areas for improvement were identified as the need to improve the effectiveness of teaching, particularly in the KG, and to improve teachers’ analyses and use of external and internal assessment data in order to modify the curriculum and adjust teaching to meet the individual abilities and needs of students. All key markers in KG, (with the exception of students’ personal development, rated Very Good) were found to be Acceptable; this is somewhat unusual, since in general, schools tend to achieve higher ratings in the KG and Primary sections.

Teachers also need to accelerate students’ progress and raise attainment in Arabic as an additional language – a common area of deficit in Dubai schools – and to improve the learning outcomes for students with SEND. Arabic as an additional language was deemed to be Weak in both Primary and Middle School and will clearly need significant input to raise standards.

Parents’ opinions

Over 620 families responded to the pre-inspection questionnaire provided by the KHDA – this is an exceptional response rate. Parents who returned the survey, are satisfied with almost all aspects of the school's provision. They are particularly complimentary of the students’ exemplary behaviour, their children's happiness while at school, and the quality of the school's educational provision. A minority felt that their children are not developing sufficient independent learning or technology skills to conduct research and that the counselling services, particularly careers and academic guidance, are insufficient. Given that the school was only open to Grade 7 at the time of inspection, this latter criticism is perhaps a little harsh.

WhichSchoolAdvisor.com has tried to visit the school on several occasions, so far unsuccessfully. 

We are however working on a fuller review. If you are a parent at the school, please complete our school survey.

Fees range from AED 11,500 in KG to AED 16,000 in grades 5-7.  Fees for Grade 8, which will open in April 2018, have not yet been confirmed.  The school also charges mandatory additional fees which average AED 2,000 per child for Registration, Activity, Medical, Uniform and Text-books. 

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