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World Bank report hails Dubai education model

Report titled ‘The Road Travelled’ chronicles the success of education reform in Dubai, giving credit to the government for its approach to private education.

In 2008, the World Bank released an education report titled ‘The Road Not Travelled’. The report looked at education reforms in the Middle East region, calling for more transparency and accountability to improve schools.

Six years later, a new report titled ‘The Road Travelled’ chronicles the success of education reform in Dubai, giving credit to the government for its approach to private education.

Experts from the World Bank recognised the positive effects of creating the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). A record 11 new schools opened in Dubai this year, painting a positive image of growth in student numbers.

Simon Thacker, World Bank Education Specialist and the report’s principal author, said, “Dubai had the vision to place an emphasis on human capital. It needed a talented workforce which required training for locals while continuing to attract foreign capital. The challenge for KHDA was very simple. It had to develop a suitable public policy for the private sector.”

The report says, “The road KHDA is travelling is a very significant one because it is demonstrating how innovative governance designs can help a public institution steer an expanding private education sector towards quality improvements. In this respect, there are valuable lessons emerging from Dubai.”

Advising countries to draw inspiration from the Dubai model, the World Bank report added, “KHDA’s approach represents a new best practice, a solid model worth replicating in other private education markets.” Increasing wealth has allowed families to invest in better schools for their children. Prompting investors to build bigger and better private schools, the report highlights the role of the KHDA in regulating private schools.

“It shows how authorities have established a public oversight and accountability framework for an education system which is nearly 90 per cent private — a situation which is both unique and extreme — and yet without providing direct or indirect state funding or subsidisation to it,” the report said.

The report aims at building a better understanding of the increasing privatisation of schools across developing countries.

“As more and more education systems turn towards the private provision of education, it is important for the Bank to understand how these markets function and, more importantly, how to tackle the governance, regulatory and financial challenges that they are posing to the State.”

muaz@khaleejtimes.com