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