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Two Indian schools are outstanding
Dubai Although more In-
dian pupils are getting bet-
ter education now, with
over 16,230 pupils attend-
ing schools getting a bet-
ter rating by Dubais edu-
cation authority, the pace
of improvement of Indian
schools has slowed down
significantly.
Officials have also de-
cried that many children
with special needs may be
going under the radar at
Indian schools.
A report based on the
inspection of Indian and
Pakistani schools in Dubai
by the Knowledge and Hu-
man Development Author-
ity (KHDA) was made pub-
lic yesterday, identifying
key shortcomings in these
schools. Out of the 21 Indian
curriculum schools inspect-
ed, two scored an outstand-
ing rating, seven were rated
good, 10 acceptable and two
unsatisfactory
Two schools improved
their rating from good to
outstanding, while two
declined, going from good
to acceptabl,e and the re-
maining retained their last
years rating.
Alarmingly, many chil-
dren with special educa-
tional needs may be going
unnoticed at some of the
Indian schools as these
schools lack understand-
ing of the definition of spe-
cial needs in the broader
sense, Jameela Al Muhairi,
Chief of the Dubai Schools
Inspection Bureau (DSIB)
at KHDA, said yesterday.
For instance, the princi-
pal of a school with thou-
sands of pupils told us
there were four or five such
children in the school.
But this turned out to be
wrong as experts participat-
ing in the inspection process
identified more pupils dur-
ing their interaction with
the pupils, she said.
Schools should use DSIB
guidelines to more effec-
tively identify students who
demonstrate learning dif-
ficulties or require further
challenges, she urged.
Lack of effective support
for students with special
educational needs leads to
them failing to make ex-
pected progress and expe-
riencing low self-esteem,
the report says about less
effective schools.
Higher attaining stu-
dents do not achieve their
potential or make the
progress of which they are
capable, it notes.
Specialist support
In contrast, the best-per-
forming schools provide
targeted specialist support
and ensure teachers know
how to plan for the range
of learners.
The Indian High School
and the Modern High
School are the first two
Indian schools to be rated
outstanding.
Poor teaching, learning
and assessment of Arabic,
lack of good English teach-
ers, and narrow focus on
success in exams, and lack
of opportunities for the
development of investi-
gations, inquiry, research
and critical thinking were
identified as the shortcom-
ings of some of the Indian
schools.
Students lack independ-
ence in their learning, not
allowing them to make
progress. Kindergarten
teaching and curricula
do not meet the learning
needs and are not age-ap-
propriate, and an unusu-
ally high turnover of staff
in a significant minority of
schools were other areas of
concerns raised.
Progress in schools
has slowed down a little,
Jameela said.
Dr Abdullah Al Karam,
Director-General, KHDA,
called on schools to form
partnerships so that they
can learn from each others
experiences and enhance
the quality of education.
About 35,428 Indian pu-
pils (58.5 per cent) now
attendgood or outstand-
ing schools.
sEVEN INsTITUTIONs RATED GOOD AND TEN ARE AccEpTAblE As khDA ANNOUNcEs RATINGs
By Rayeesa aBsal
Staff Reporter
Laudable achievement
Students at Indian High School in Dubai. This school and
Modern High School are the first two Indian institutions
to be rated outstanding by the KHDA.
AHMED RAMZAN/Gulf News

Ali & Sons Co. L.L.C.

30943633_1.1
TOp OF ThE hEAp
School Name 2011-2012 2010-2011 2009-2010 Curriculum
Dubai Modern High School Outstanding Good Good ICSE
The Indian High School Outstanding Good Good CBSE
Delhi Private School Good Good Good CBSE
Our Own English High School Good Good Good CBSE
Our Own High School Good Good Acceptable CBSE
Our Own Indian School Good Good Acceptable CBSE
Rajagiri International School Good Good Good CBSE
The Indian High School- Branch Good Good Good CBSE
The Millennium School Good Good Good CBSE
Crescent English School Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable CBSE
Emirates English Speaking School Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable CBSE
Global Indian International School Acceptable - - ICSE
Gulf Indian High School Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable CBSE
Gulf Model School Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable CBSE
JSS International School Acceptable Good - ICSE
New Indian Model School Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable CBSE
The Central School Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable CBSE
The Elite English School Acceptable Good Acceptable CBSE
The Kindergarten Starters Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable CBSE
Buds Public School Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory CBSE
Little Flowers English school Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory CBSE
Pakistani Schools 2011-2012 2010-2011 2009-2010 Curriculum
H.H. Shaikh Rashid Al Maktoum
Pakistani School Unsatisfactory Acceptable Acceptable Pakistani
Al Farooq Pakistani Islamic School Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory Pakistani
Pakistan Education Academy Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory Pakistani
Dubai All three schools in
the city offering the Pa-
kistani curriculum were
rated unsatisfactory by the
education authorities in
school inspections.
There are 3,211 students
at these schools.
Officials said that there are
fundamental weaknesses
in these schools in relation
to basic resources, teaching
quality and leadership.
School owners need to
invest significant amounts of
time, resources and expertise
to improve the education for
these students, according to
the KHDA report called Key
Findings Indian and Pakistani
School Inspection Results
2011-2012.
While two of the schools
were rated unsatisfactory in
all three rounds of school in-
spections so far, one school
had an acceptable rating in
the past two years which fell
to unsatisfactory this year.
We are saddened by
the situation in the Paki-
stani schools, Jameela Al
Muhairi, Chief of Dubai
Schools Inspection Bureau
(DSIB) at KHDA, said.
Unsatisfactory schools
will be taken out of the reg-
ular inspection cycle and
will be visited every three
months. We will give them
our full support to help
them improve.
However, we know
from our high-performing
schools that partnership
is at the heart of making
progress, she added.
One striking feature of
Pakistani schools is the
positive desire of most stu-
dents to learn and improve
their lives through educa-
tion, inspectors said. They
noted all three schools
have teachers with a strong
commitment to improve.
However, these teachers
were rarely supported to
do so, the report said.
In particular, the schools
face significant challenges
in recruiting leaders and
skilled experienced teach-
ers. Governance in these
schools was ineffective,
resources were lacking and
leadership was weak, it was
found.
Poorly developed sys-
tems for monitoring stu-
dent attendance, poor com-
munication with parents,
overcrowded school buses,
narrow curricula, poor or
no support for those with
special educational needs
were some of the other
shortcomings identified.
School owners
urged to invest
in resources
khDA wants attention to be paid on expertise
By Rayeesa aBsal
Staff Reporter cONcErN
sTUDENTs
spANkED
The school inspection team
at the Knowledge and Human
Development Authority (KHDA)
recently witnessed children
being subjected to corporal
punishment at one of the
Pakistani curriculum schools,
officials told Gulf News.
Inappropriate measures are
taken to discipline students. Due
to this, relationships between
students and teachers are often
negative. And this results in poor
behaviour and a lack of respect,
a report published yesterday by
KHDA notes, addressing areas of
concern in Pakistani schools.
Teachers at these schools are
unaware of child protection issues,
according to the report We came
across cases of spanking at a
Pakistani school. Teachers in some
of these schools need to be trained
on behavioural management,
Fatima Belrahif of the Dubai
Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB)
at KHDA said.
R.A.