UAE News Agency (WAM), Thursday 3 Jun 2010
ADEC Invites International Experts To Discuss Private School Quality Assurance
Systems
Abu Dhabi, WAM:
Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) hosted a three-day conference to discuss best
practices in the field of inspection and quality assurance in private schools at
Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. During the opening session, Dr. Mugheer
Khamis Al-Khaili, Director General of ADEC said that this conference supports
the objectives of ADEC's strategic plan, which was initiated 18 months ago to
drive education reform in Abu Dhabi.
Guest speakers included Sir Mike Tomlinson, a prominent and international
education reform leader from the UK, Gerry Treble, a member of the Ministry of
Education in Ontario, Canada, in addition to a number of ADEC experts, partners
and specialists from the KHDA and Ministry of Education. Keynote speeches were
followed by small group discussions on school inspection worldwide and its
impact on school systems, and on topics such as inspector training and market
development and how they apply the private school reform processes under
development here in Abu Dhabi.
Days two and three of the conference provided an opportunity for ADEC staff to
participate in focused group brainstorming and discussion sessions on the
council's current inspection and school improvement systems.
Dr. Al-Khaili said developing the private education sector is considered a key
factor in achieving the overall development of the education sector in the
Emirate of Abu Dhabi. "ADEC encourages investment in this vital sector which is
growing at 5 percent annually, and which accommodates approximately 165,000
students.
ADEC will provide investors who are dedicated to providing affordable
quality private education with all the required support and assistance in order
to meet the increasingly growing demand," he added.
Dr. Al-Khaili emphasized that this initiative is in line with the vision of H.H.
General Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy
Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Education
Council to provide access to affordable options of high quality private
education in Abu Dhabi to ensure highly qualified graduates who have the
necessary skills to join local and international higher education institutions.
Dr. Rafic Makki the Executive Director of the office of Strategic Affairs at the
Council presented at the conference the P-12 strategic plan of the Council and
was followed by Sir Tomlinson's keynote address who touched on the common goal
of all countries of having every student being able to attend a good school and
have access to quality education. "This is not only an operational imperative,
it is a moral imperative," Tomlinson said.
He added that the process of educational reform is dependent on the concept of
continual improvement, and that this must happen with schools taking increasing
responsibility for this process. "There is only so long you can force from the
outside, real improvement comes internally," he said. "Schools who are committed
to this have a belief that they can always do better, it's not only about
standing, but the capacity to improve is important." "Inspections must be done
with, and not to schools," he said.
"We need both school autonomy, and school
inspections, with increasing involvement of the private sector." He also noted
that "We should tailor the inspections to fit each school," he said, noting that
schools with strong inspection results did not need to be inspected as regularly
as those with poor results.
Rob Leveillere another speaker at the conference stated that "over the last
several decades we have developed a 'science' of school improvement. The
information on what and how schools improve is well understood. Whilst, Gerry
Trabe focused on the fact that maintaining a sharp focus on core expectations
and priorities is critical and that we cannot possibly achieve true improvement
without partnering with all of the involved constituents.
From Ireland John Dennehs highlighted that it is not possible to import an
inspection system in its totality to another country and that it is important to
develop a culture of self-evaluation in all schools and in order to guarantee a
credible evaluation the school principals should be involved throughout the
process. on the other hand David Whalley from New Zealand set the ground for any
evaluation which is to first establish the purpose for which it is conducted.
Then the way in which an evaluation is conducted should be designed to ensure
that the purpose is fulfilled.
"It is an important priority for us to provide professional development
opportunities to our own staff to ensure that the individuals leading education
reform in the Emirate are in the habit of constantly learning and challenging
themselves. By understanding the experiences and challenges faced by education
reform leaders throughout the world, we are able to add to our own wealth of
knowledge and expertise as we pursue educational excellence in the UAE," Dr.
Al-Khaili said.
"This conference is representative of ADEC's dedication to continuously critique
and assess our own systems and procedures to ensure that they are meeting
international best practice standards." According to the private education
development plan initiated by ADEC, two inspection rounds have been conducted,
covering 98 out of the 184 private schools operating in Abu Dhabi.
The
inspection is focused on supporting schools and identifying strengths and
weaknesses in order to improve quality of education. ADEC in collaboration with
independent inspection companies conducted a more comprehensive round of
inspection for each school in order to identify points of strength and weakness,
and to develop a school improvement plan, Dr. Al-Khaili said.
ADEC's inspection standards and criteria include the following: 1. School
efficiency 2. Standards and progress achieved by students 3. Students personal
achievement 4. Quality of teaching 5. Curriculum to meet students' needs 6.
Students' well being 7. Quality of school facilities and buildings 8. School
resources and their efficiency to achieve teaching and learning goals and
objectives 9. Efficiency of school management and leadership and its ability to
achieve the set goals In addition, H.E. clarified that that evaluation process
uncovered that 68% of the private schools that are utilizing purpose built
buildings ranked "below satisfactory" and 20% were "satisfactory"; a mere 12%
per cent were deemed good. And these results were one of the reasons that
encouraged the Council to conduct this conference to benefit from the best
practices implemented in the evaluation processes across the globe.
Dr. Al-Khaili pointed out that specific plans for developing inspected schools
will be implemented as of next year. Inspection of other schools will be
continued within a comprehensive framework based upon specific standards and
criteria. ADEC aims to develop a quality private education sector that meets the
international standards, is equipped with state-of-the-art school facilities,
and highly qualified staff.
"ADEC has held coordination meetings with school managements to discuss the
challenges and expectations, and to identify school needs. Common school
challenges included: obsolete rules and regulations, inadequate school funding,
poor infrastructure, low teaching standards and qualifications, improper school
locations and lack of communication with parents," Dr. Al-Khaili said.
Dr. Al-Khaili said that ADEC's initiatives include leasing unused public school
buildings to willing investors in order to replace villa schools, and forming
parent-teacher committees at private schools to improve schools and address
deficiencies that were observed by ADEC through the inspection process. ADEC
will also be forming a joint steering committee of Abu Dhabi Executive Council,
ADEC, Urban Planning Council and the Department of Economic Development to
support the allocation of land plots to private school operators.
"Our approach in the private school sector places an emphasis on empowering
individual school leadership with the information and resources that they need
to undergo a process of continuous development," Yousif Al Sheryani, Educational
Advisor to the Director General, said.
He added that ADEC has already started implementing these initiatives in order
to assist school managements improve their performance and meet ADEC's standards
and criteria.
He pointed out that ADEC initiatives include integrating disabled students into
private schools, in addition to initiatives that enhance ADEC's capabilities to
attract international companies with outstanding operations in education to open
private schools in the emirate.
School principals said they valued the inspection visits and emphasized that
they were very helpful since they were based on ADEC's 9 standards and criteria.
They added that ADEC held organized workshops to clarify the aim of the
inspection process and that the inspection teams were very professional and
interactive.
ADEC database statistics shows the availability of 120 private schools in Abu
Dhabi (accommodating 112,000 students), 57 in Al-Ain (accommodating 48,400
students) and 7 in Al Gharbiah (accommodating 4,554 students).
National students represent 31 percent of private education sector enrollment,
while expats represent 69 percent.
WAM/MAB