Dubai
A unique opportunity to contribute to the development of a new strategy for school evaluation and improvement
Dubai is one of the most vibrant and dynamic cities in the world and offers a tremendous quality of life. The authorities in Dubai have far-reaching plans for school improvement and can now offer a unique opportunity for first-class education professionals to contribute to an internationally significant reform project.
Establishing the new Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau
CfBT is working on behalf of the Dubai Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) on the recruitment of key staff for the new Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau. The KHDA has embarked on an exciting and ambitious mission to transform human development opportunities and outcomes for all the people of Dubai. (www.khda.gov.ae/en/brief.asp). The establishment of the Inspection Bureau is a key element within this strategy. The Bureau will be responsible for the evaluation of school quality in all the government schools and private schools of Dubai. The Bureau ‘goes live’ in September 2008. It is one part of a wider integrated strategy for school quality and transformation.
A world class approach to school quality
The Inspection Bureau is being designed around key research-based principles relating to successful school system reform. Its methodology will centre on the use of transparent quality indicators setting out the expectations for educational excellence in all the schools of Dubai. The Emirate is unusual in that it has more private schools than public schools. The Inspection Bureau will establish a quality framework for all these schools. It will, in time, provide parents with authoritative information about schools and assist schools to plan for continuous improvement. Opportunities to be part of the beginning of such an initiative are rare, and the new staff of the Bureau will have a chance to be involved in an approach that will inevitably attract international interest.
The KHDA is looking for experienced English-speaking educationalists for a number of key posts within the management structure of the Bureau. Many of the inspectors who will carry out inspections will be ‘associates’ brought in from different countries to assist in the inspection of the different school types found in Dubai: American curriculum, British curriculum, Indian curriculum. In addition, the Bureau is recruiting a team of bilingual (English/Arabic) inspectors to undertake the inspection of the government schools and those private schools that follow the UAE curriculum.
The mandate for the Bureau
The Dubai School Inspection Bureau was formally established in December 2007 as the result of a decree issued by His Highness, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The establishment of the Bureau comes in line with the Government of Dubai’s plan to develop all the elements of the educational system in order to create enhanced educational outcomes for the Emirate. The Bureau’s mandate includes the following:
- Set the standards of quality for education and its management and help schools develop such standards; set performance indicators that helps measure, follow-up, and evaluate these standards.
- Adopt a system to compile reports that measures performance of the aforementioned standards and indicators.
- Publish separate reports about each school in Dubai, both private and public, so as to achieve complete transparency and access to high quality education.
- Monitor the schools that do not commit to the standards for quality education and set the required procedure to elevate the level of these schools.
- Conduct qualitative studies and analysis on the future education levels in Dubai and use these studies to support educational policies that would ensure the development of education in the Emirate.
- Suggest agreements with international educational authorities and organisations to facilitate inspection and monitoring processes.
Now read more about the range of opportunities