MIDDLE EAST


the group completed the third phase of its Uptown campus in Mirdif, and the Dubai British Foundation School in Jumeirah Islands opened. September 2015 saw the opening of Taaleem’s Dubai British School in Jumeirah Park. “On top


of these developments, another 10,000


new places will become available in Dubai in the 2015/16 academic year alone,” says Clive Pierrepont. The majority of international schools in the UAE are located in the emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Dubai, which has the highest proportion of expatriates,


also has the greatest concentration of international schools. Its Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), which is responsible for private education, anticipates an increase in enrolment at international schools of 7 per cent each year for the next five years, and is planning significant school expansion. This will help to address the continuing demand.


WHAT’S IMPORTANT WHEN


SELECTING A SCHOOL? Personal requirements vary, of course, when searching for a school. However, the 2014 YouGov Education Investment Study into school choice in the UAE found that parents regarded academic record as the most important factor when evaluating a school.


Other factors that were considered a priority were overall reputation, range of subjects taught, range of extracurricular activities on offer, and facilities available. Functional attributes, such as the proximity of the school to home, ease of access, and school fees were deemed less important, which suggests that parents in the UAE are willing to pay more or travel further in order to place their child in the right school. The survey found that, overall, 44 per cent of parents in the UAE believed that they received good value for money from their child’s school. Factors such as the quality of the


166 | relocateglobal.com | Keep Informed


class teacher, word-of-mouth recommendations, and the quality of the headteacher were all cited as contributing significantly to a perception of value for money.


ASSESSING SCHOOL CHOICES


Assessing the quality of schools is often not an easy task for families moving to a new region. For those relocating to Dubai, strict regulations set by the KHDA can help. Accreditation in Dubai is mandatory, and school inspections are conducted annually by the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB). The KHDA’s Schools Fees Framework, which was introduced in 2012, restricts schools to fee increases based on their inspection standards, in conjunction with the Education Cost Index. Of 143 schools, 134 are eligible to increase their fees for the 2015/16 academic year based on these guidelines. In the 2014/15 inspections, 14 schools were rated as outstanding, 59 as good, 61 as acceptable, and nine as unsatisfactory. Ten of the 14 schools rated as outstanding offer a UK curriculum. All Dubai private-school inspection reports for the past six years are published on the KHDA website (www.khda.gov.ae). In 2015, for the first time, the reports included a review of the special educational needs provision at each school, as well as a new section designed specifically for parents, which gives information to support them with school choice. British-curriculum schools in Dubai are also eligible for British Schools Overseas (BSO) inspections. These inspections are based on standards equivalent to those for UK independent schools, and are part of an agreement between KHDA and the Department for Education (DfE) of England and Wales. The BSO inspections are conducted by the Centre


for British Teachers Education Trust (CfBT), which is authorised by the DfE. Reports are available from the CfBT website (www.cfbt.com).


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