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The approval for expansion of any school will now be directly linked with its rating, confirmed a senior KHDA official.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Mohammed Ahmed Darwish, Chief of Regulations and Permits Commission at the KHDA, said: “All applications for grade expansions are based on the school’s quality.”
Recently, the GEMS Winchester School in Oud Metha was refused permission to expand from Grade 9 to Grade 10, as the school had received only an ‘acceptable’ rating from the Dubai School Inspections Bureau (DSIB). The bureau, which operates under the KHDA, inspects and rates schools as ‘outstanding’, ‘good’, ‘acceptable’ and ‘unsatisfactory’ every year.
Commenting on the case, Darwish said: “We urge parents to be vigilant as their children’s future is at stake. The KHDA is expecting GEMS Winchester Oud Metha to move and start offering a better quality of education like its sister schools.”
Most parents were surprised by the decision, as they have to find admissions for their children in other schools offering Grade 10 classes.
A spokesperson from GEMS Education noted the ‘surprise decision’ had left the education provider with no choice but to accommodate students in other schools operated by the group.
“Our entire focus has been on making the transition due to this surprise decision as smooth as possible. While the decision has been out of our control, we have taken specific steps to assist parents as much as we can,” said a spokesperson from GEMS Education.
The spokesperson also noted improving education quality was a process that needed time.
“All GEMS schools continue to improve markedly as evidenced by the remarkable showing in the KHDA ratings across the network this year. We are quite confident that GEMS Winchester will continue to improve and provide a quality, affordable education for its students,” added the spokesperson.
Five schools operated by GEMS Education are already rated outstanding and the latest move by the KHDA is aimed at helping other schools move up in school ratings.
New schools in Dubai are given provisional permits to operate and schools start by offering limited grades. Gradually, new grades are added every year until the school reaches K-12.
“Our primary focus is on increasing accessibility to quality education. Expansions from schools that are performing well and meeting the quality parameters set by the emirate of Dubai are always welcome. The KHDA’s objective is to increase the number of students being offered high quality education,” said Darwish.
More than 230,000 students go to 141 private schools in Dubai.
muaz@khaleejtimes.com
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