KHDA briefs school principals in Dubai about new safety protocols

Regular meetings are being held between the schools  and the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) to discuss health and security policies before reopening the campuses in September. A total of 25 principals are attending each session.
"KHDA is organising meetings with school leaders to discuss and clear the concerns on school reopening plans in September. Last week, Dr Abdulla Al Karam, chairman of the KHDA, addressed a webinar titled 'New Days - New ways'," said Mohammad Ali Kottakkulam, principal of Gulf Indian High School, Dubai.
"Based on parental feedback and varying views of different stakeholders, each school may have its own special concerns and issues which we expect to find the right guidance from the KHDA in these meetings. It will also open up chances for sharing the best practices schools are opting to have in place to ward off or minimise certain issues or concerns," he added.
The authority has also shared a 'school readiness reopening plan' with all its institutions, that needs to submitted to the regulating body by July 14. As schools eagerly wait for new sessions, many heads say this is an opportunity to openly share their concerns and seek solutions with the KHDA.

"Today's live interactive sessions with the KHDA's team of experts, gave us a deeper insight and better understanding of the health and security policies and processes. The open forum helped get all our doubts and questions answered," said Sangita Chima, principal of Amity School Dubai.

Annie Mathew, principal of Gulf Model School, said: "One of the things we discussed was will parents have the flexibility to send or not send their child to school, once institutions reopen in September? Additionally, the focus was on parent engagement and safeguarding the interest of different stakeholders. Therefore, giving maximum effort on minimising the risk factors and adapting to the new plans efficiently were the key issues."

Another Dubai school head contended with the collaborative effort about welcoming students back in September. "I attended the first session that was conducted on Monday. The meeting was very productive and gave us a lot of insights and clarity on the preparedness for the reopening of schools. I and my fellow principals ended the meeting on a positive note," said Deepika Thapar Singh, CEO-Principal of Credence High School.

Other schools who are next in line for the session said they were looking forward to discussing the safety protocols in detail. "Since we have a very large number of students across our group of schools, our procedures and protocols will be much more rigorous." said Punit MK Vasu, CEO of The Indian High Group of Schools.

nandini@khaleejtimes.com