Tag: KHDA

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“The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks” – Christopher Hitchens

If you are a student friendly teacher, you could have experienced at least one student with his/her ideas different from the rest. It’s astonishing and interesting to come across such students. What makes them different from others?

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It’s the ability of the child to think about anything and everything. An ability of critical thinking

Critical thinking should be encouraged. Traditional concepts of learning are loosing its charm. Text based passive learning is giving way to active thinking and learning process.  The vital goal of education is to promote critical thinking in students, not making them reflect like a parrot. EYFS and KHDA are new terms that aim at improving the quality in education.

It’s really important to instil the ability of critical thinking in children through education. Early Years Foundation Stage is providing better guidance for children at a very tender age, they believe in individual abilities of children. There are Government bodies such as the KHDA in Dubai who takes the responsibility of the growth and quality of private education institutions.

As far as 21st century learning is concerned, critical thinking is an important factor. Spoon-feeding system in education has changed for better. It’s an era of better education.

10 out of the many uses of critical thinking:

We are provided with brains but we create our mind. The best mind is the one that thinks rather than the ones that accepts. Whenever we are dealing with humans we are dealing with their thoughts as well. By helping students to cultivate critical thinking, we are sowing the seeds of a generation with a better thinking capability that can help society.

  1. Critical thinking helps to cultivate higher-order thinking skill. Think beyond the print. Mostly children are fed the printed books which deny any further development of critical thinking.

“There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so”. William Shakespeare

  1. Rash decision making is a problem that the children should be kept away from. Stop and think before taking any action. Critical thinking ensures better thinking capacity in children which helps students think before any act.

  “He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question      remains a fool forever.” – CHINESE PROVERB

  1. Things are more sensible when we think. Make more sense with thinking. Rather than just jumping into conclusions, think twice about the displayed conclusion. Make decesions of your own.

“Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking while you’re thinking in order to make your thinking better.” ― Richard W. Paul

  1. Ideas must be clear. Complicated ideas can create confusion. Express your ideas clearly without doubt.

“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.”- Robin Williams

  1. There can be more than one answer for a question. Explore alternatives with critical thinking.

“There is more than one way of getting to 2 besides 1+1.”

  1. Making better judgement. Evaluate and analyse before concluding to a judgement. Better decision making from a small age can benefit an individual in life. Future is more secure with better decisions.

“Nothing strengthens the judgment and quickens the conscience like individual responsibility.” – Elizabeth Cady Stanton

  1. Active thinking rather than passive acceptance of facts make children smart. With critical thinking, children tend to ask vital questions resulting in better judgement

“The one real goal of education is to leave a person asking questions.” – MAX BEERHOHM

  1. Critical thinking promotes academic improvement, effective communication with people and finding solution for complex problems.

“I think it’s really important to design things with a kind of personality”- Marc Newson

  1. Responsibility arises with better thinking. Being responsible for ones own thoughts and conclusion can make students better in learning as well as in life.

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“Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work.” ― Adrienne Rich

  1. Critical thinking explores possibilities. Mugging up facts won’t make any person wise but thinking does.

“All things are possible until they are proven impossible.” ― Pearl S. Buck

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ADEC strive to develop education and educational institutions in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Established in 2005 by the UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and the Ruler of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) is recognized as a driver of superior education system. The council aims at meeting the development goals of the emirate by managing, guiding and implementing various educational development strategies and initiatives in Abu Dhabi. 

This council manages the education system by dividing it into three – Public Schools ranging from kindergarten to adult education centers, around 185 Private Schools, and around 18 Higher Education institutions. From January 2008, the council became the supervising body of the Abu Dhabi Educational Zone (ADEZ). The council’s future vision is to make the Abu Dhabi education system world class with support for all learners in reaching their full potential to compete in the global market.

Role of this educational framework is to

  • Deliver technical assistance for developing education and education institutions in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
  • Plan education strategies in synchronization with the Ministry of Education within the framework of the UAE’s general education policy
  • Improve the capabilities of education institutions and employees by conducting studies and making suggestions to develop education and vocational training
  • Offer technical and solid assistance to educational institutions
  • Support relations between educational institutions and the private sector
  • Provide training for graduates and expose them to wide range of employment opportunities, thus raising the standard of education and vocational training.
  • Enable educational institutions to implement the education plans of the Emirate by providing them with assistance, counseling and technical services.
  • Create an educational database for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi
  • Inspire the private sector to provide quality education services, based on existing laws.

ADEC is responsible for dealing, guiding, adopting and implementing various educational development strategies and initiatives in Abu Dhabi. Along with the core activities, the council has also implemented a number of key initiatives to ensure world class education in Abu Dhabi. Initiatives include-

  • Irtiqa’a Program, a comprehensive school inspection system to monitor and benchmark performance quality education in our schools. The council’s school inspections are similar to the Dubai school inspections conducted by the DSIB division of the KHDA (Knowledge& Human Development Authority).
  • School master plan to ensure high quality education for all school-aged children
  • Library upgrade project to transform traditional libraries to 21st century  Learning Resource Centers
  • P-12 education system to organize education from Kindergarten through to Grade 12

ADEC also shows special concern for students with special education needs. Special education is offered for students with disabilities categorized as autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, hearing impairment, speech and language disorder, and multiple disabilities. Most schools in Abu Dhabi provide a broad curriculum within the framework outlined by both the UK Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Abu Dhabi Education Council guidelines.

Being an educator under the council provides an extremely rewarding as well as exciting opportunity to practice your teaching expertise. It also offers some of the best salary and benefits packages worldwide. The council's “Teacher Guidebook” helps teachers understand the key philosophies, values, and guiding principles of ADEC’s New School Model. It also promotes training program to assist teachers in professional development.

The role of the council’s professional development for educators and school leaders is to help them achieve the ADEC Professional Standards. This also supports school leaders to lead their schools more efficiently. With higher education as the major concern of the Emirate, they have 18 HE institutions, offering a superb range of courses and facilities.

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“A quality education grants us the ability to fight the war on ignorance and poverty.”-  Charles B Rangel

There are numerous advantages that come with quality education. Like an investment that grows with time, quality education benefits students and the economy. What measures the quality in education – the environment of the school or the syllabus on the text? There are a number of questions to be answered. KHDA is best placed to answer those.

What is KHDA?

KHDA stands for Knowledge and Human Development Authority. The major role of KHDA is to ensure that private schools operate with the required quality standards. The performance of children is in one way or other parallel to the performance of the school. KHDA identifies the strength and weaknesses of each school and helps them to improve by better innovations.

The activities of KHDA is not limited to the inspection of school, instead there are a lot of possibilities that KHDA assures.

Assuring Quality

When it’s about education, quality is far more important than any other aspect. Schools are subjected to regular visits by the KHDA team. School inspection plays a vital role in measuring the education quality.

Check out the 5 reasons that make KHDA vital for quality education

  1. Independent as well as accurate view of the school: Accurate factors regarding a school cannot be obtained from the school website alone. KHDA maintains transparent review about the school based on regular inspections.
  2.  Serves as a means of accountability: Schools are accountable to KHDA. The only way to impress KHDA is to maintain quality education. No private schools can escape from KHDA, the service of schools are at constant observation and evaluation.
  3.  Choose better with KHDA: Parents are often misled while choosing the best education institution for their children. A trusted source is a must for choosing better schools. KHDA is the best source to rely on when it’s about the quality of education. Transparency of information is guaranteed by KHDA.
  4.  Better innovation in education:Not only inspection but also innovation. Better innovation can raise the standard of education. KHDA comes up with new ideas that can be connected to education.
  5.  Enable the best practice at each level: The quality of education is not taken as a whole. Instead each level in education is taken in to consideration. Each level in schools requires different level of practices. KHDA delivers to each student the very best education experience.

The four point scale of KHDA

The KHDA scale consists of four scales. The level is granted to the each school depending on its quality.

  1. Level 4 : Outstanding Quality : The best schools receives Level 4
  2. Level 3:  Good Quality : It is the expected level of quality for every  schools
  3. Level 2: Acceptable : School requires to improve
  4. Level 1: Unsatisfactory: The quality of school is not acceptable. Measures must be taken to raise the standard of the school

KHDA is always ready to innovate and implement new ideas. Quality is placed above any other aspect. Continue reading “5 Reasons KHDA is Vital for Quality Education”

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Private schools have become ubiquitous in UAE for some time now. But unlike the public education sector, its counter-parts were not monitored that often. As a result the quality of education took a dip, but the number of private schools went on increasing. Likewise, school fees were also becoming a major concern as most private schools had increased their fees several folds.

The lack of knowledge about where the trouble is also made it difficult for schools to improve its quality. The necessity of a body which collects such data was becoming unavoidable.

Enter KHDA

Prior to KHDA, parents, teachers and students had no clue about the performance of schools and had to blindly join schools based on hunches. The mission for KHDA at hand was to improve the private education sector. To help with this, they appointed the Dubai School Inspection Board (DSIB) to collect data on private schools.

The data collection is done on an annual basis and these data are made available online. The data can even be obtained through mobile apps. These data can be used by schools to improve upon themselves. It also allows parents to get an idea of which school to opt for.

Stats show that within the first 5 years of its operation, KHDA has witnessed 51% increase in schools labelled as good and outstanding. Apart from identifying the weaker schools, KHDA also does its bit to help improve the condition of these schools. This approach was to help those schools that could not improve by themselves. Adding to this, events like "What Works" are also conducted to enlighten teachers on what to do in order to improve quality.

Lessons to Be Learnt

  • All aspects of the private schools need to be monitored and help must be given to weaker schools to improve performance.
  • An information collecting body needs be appointed for this purpose.
  • Based on the information collected, a database needs to be formed which contains the list of schools based on their performance.
  • All the information collected needs to be made available to parents and students easily and nowadays a website is the best way of sharing all this information.
  • Schools must also be able to access this information and make use of them to improve. The data collected needs to specify the areas where the schools need to improve and take actions accordingly.
  • Transparency of information should be made compulsory and is considered to be the hallmark of good governance. For this all the information that is collected should be made available to the public.
  • The information parents and schools get needs to be authentic in order to be made useful.
  • The fee structure for a school needs to be constructed on the basis of the quality that they are willing to provide. Hence a neutral body such as KHDA could be of great help in identifying outstanding schools.
  • The database needs to be updated regularly based on a periodic scrutiny of the schools.
  • The role played by this body should not just be confined to collecting data and making them available to the public. They must also take responsibility to improve the quality of education by improving the condition of the educational institutions.
  • They must also be able to suggest methods by which the schools can improve their performances.
  • Collaboration of schools rather than competition is what is required to help develop the education system on a whole, than just focusing on particular school.

The performance boost of private schools has been so remarkable that other countries too can take a few tips from KHDA. Especially in a country like India where a new private school is built every month, such performance analysis could be vital.

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Over the last few years, UAE has grown economically and culturally to compete with the top countries of the world. The native language of Arabic has also played a huge role in the evolution in terms of culture and tradition.

But,

The recent revelations of Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) on the poor performance in private schools of Dubai were indeed shocking. It was found that the students scored well in the subject but they could not speak the language properly. It was also found that about 75% of the inspected schools had very less number of students who chose Arabic as their first language or additional language. The reason for such a trend was because the teaching and learning techniques in Arabic were repetitive and hence, it could not instil any interest in the students.

As a result,

KHDA is focusing on the promotion of Arabic language in schools this year. The organization has decided to improve teaching methods, thus invoking the interest in students to embrace the language. The teacher-led workshops and presentations are therefore an effort from KHDA’s side to apply innovative teaching methods and to improve the performance of schools in Arabic.

One of the reasons for the students not being able to pick up the language was that they were taught everything word by word from the textbooks. Schools concentrated only on grades and they passed with flying colors. The reason was simple. Students learned everything by heart and appeared for the exams! Another reason was that schools found it difficult to hire teachers who were fluent in both English and Arabic. In private schools, where most of the students belong to other countries, it is important to have teachers who can communicate in English. Most of the natives in the UAE speak only Arabic. Hiring teachers from Jordan and Lebanon is a solution. But most schools prefer local teachers, considering less payment.

‘What Works’

 The event named ‘What Works’ was conducted by KHDA on September 29th. It gave an opportunity for the teachers to interact and share ideas to improve their teaching methods. The educators held discussions and exchanged ideas through teacher-led presentations and workshops, which focussed on Arabic.

‘What Works’ also gave attention to other subjects such as Maths, Science etc. The teachers, who attended ‘What Works,’ gave positive feedbacks on the event. One of the teachers mentioned that the event gave them a new vision into the methods of teaching. During the event, one of the teachers suggested maintaining a sheet that taught students Arabic. The students can use it each day, thus helping them to improve their linguistic skills rather than grades.

The event threw light on the innovative ways that Arabic as a language, can be understood, taught and received. It also highlighted the ways to make the teaching process interesting so that the students get motivated and find the language easy to handle.

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What could be worse than not utilizing an opportunity when you actually have it in your hands? That’s what is happening in Dubai right now. The Knowledge and Human Authority (KHDA), governed by the Government of Dubai, has taken the initiatives for improving the performance of private schools in Dubai. As a result of that, KHDA inspects schools and the reports are published on their website on a regular basis. But it’s very disappointing to see that parents don’t even care to go through them.

“Despite more than 200,000 pupils attending private schools in Dubai, only 26,557 people viewed inspection results and reports by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) last year — and many of them weren’t even pupils or parents,” the Gulf News quotes. It shows that parents do not bother to enquire about the quality of schools before admitting their child and those parents, whose children are already in school, do not tend to evaluate the performance of the schools.

The KHDA has been publishing reports since 2009, to help parents in finding the right school for their children and to make the parents, whose children are already in school, aware of the school’s performance. Some parents just read the summarized reports that come in newspapers but do not go online and check the reports in detail. Some parents are just aware of the inspections happening in their kids’ schools, but they are not even aware that the reports are available online.

Hind Al Mulla, who is the Chief of Engagement, KHDA, says that parents should make use of the inspection reports to the fullest for providing better education to their children. “Reports enable parents to make informed decisions about their child’s education and future. Parents are able to contrast and compare the results of different schools, focusing on everything from academia to extra-curricular activities and student life,” Mr. Mulla says.

According to the reports, 154,901 people visited the KHDA website in the year 2012; however, only 6,103 went through the publication section containing KHDA inspection reports and other schools reports. But there was a slight increase in the figures last year. Out of the 337,628 people who visited KHDA website last year, 26,557 went through the online publication section. This shows a steady growth in the number of visitors viewing KHDA publications online.

“We are expecting the number this year to be the highest. We will continue to engage parents through various channels of communication. In addition to online reports, we offer smart services,” Mr. Mulla says. The figures show that in the first two quarters of 2014, the number of people who accessed the KHDA website were 204,139. Out of that, 18,776 people viewed the KHDA inspection reports and the other reports online.

KHDA is a regulatory authority aimed at providing quality education to students of private schools in Dubai and has hence set some guidelines for the schools to follow. They inspect schools on a regular basis and publish their reports online as an effort to improve performances of schools.

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Private education and learning in Dubai are regulated by Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), which may also include the school your child studies in or the school you work in. With KHDA assessing the schools, you can know how good the performance of a particular school is just by looking at their rating.

If you are not familiar with KHDA, here is a glimpse of what KHDA is and the role it plays in improving the performance of private schools in Dubai:

KHDA, which is a part of Government of Dubai, plays a pivotal role in ensuring quality education to private schools in Dubai.  KHDA monitors all institutions under private education sector of Dubai. The main motive of KHDA is to develop the education sector of Dubai to meet international standards, so that students would be well prepared to meet the fast moving world. KHDA has hence set some guidelines for the schools they monitor to follow.

How KHDA Monitors Schools?

KHDA ensures quality education to students using Dubai School Inspections Bureau (DSIB) and Regulations and Compliance Committee (RCC). These are subsidiary bodies of KHDA with specific duties.

DSIB

Dubai School Inspections Bureau (DSIB), is a team of school inspectors who visit the private schools in Dubai frequently to ensure the quality standards are met consistently. DSIB submits ratings of each inspected school, which would then be published in the KHDA website. These reports are usually submitted by DSIB in September.

While assessing the schools in Dubai, DSIB judges them based on a four-point scale. The four levels on the scale are:

  • Outstanding-When the performance of schools is exceptionally well.
  • Good-When the school meets expected educational standards in Dubai.
  • Acceptable-This level of performance of schools is acceptable in Dubai; however, the schools are expected to perform above this level.
  • Unsatisfactory-This is when quality of performance by schools in Dubai are below the expected level. Schools would have to take necessary measures to improvise their standard in terms of performance or practice at this level.

RCC

KHDA’s Regulations and Compliance Committee (RCC) is responsible for inspecting private schools in Dubai to ensure that they follow KHDA guidelines, which are mandatory. That is also an effort to fulfill KHDA’s aim to develop the standards of private schools in Dubai.

Apart from setting standards for improving performance of schools, KHDA has also set guidelines in terms of advertising by schools and for events and field trips conducted by schools. It is necessary for the schools to let KHDA know when they are planning to market or advertise the schools in any media.

KHDA rankings are not based on how much money has been invested by schools.  It is based on the right management and the ways adopted to improve performance and standards of schools.

Now if you are looking forward to improve your schools’ performance, here are some practices of schools that KHDA is looking upon in 2014, to assess the schools:

1. Taking Care Of Special Education Needs

In a school, there may be children with different learning abilities.  In 2014, KHDA plans to focus on schools, which attend to the needs of children who have difficulty in learning, or children who are differently abled or have special talents.  KHDA would look upon:

  • Syllabus modified by school, relevant equally for normal children and children who have difficulty in learning.
  • The schools should support students with special needs or disabilities, preparing them to face the world.

2. School Management System

Many schools with less monetary support may think that it is not possible for them to afford to have a good school management system.  However, having an effective school management system can have its own advantages.  It makes work easier and the employees of the school would be able to save time for other activities, hence increasing the productivity and reducing expenditure.  Better school management can be done by implementing

  • RFID School Bus Tracking System
  • Work Force Management etc.

3. EncouragingArabic & Islamic Education

Since Government of Dubai has taken initiatives to protect the tradition and heritage of the country, KHDA is giving importance on appointing efficient Arabic and Islamic teachers to improve the performance of students in Arabic and Islamic Education in private schools.

4. Appointment of qualified teachers

As an approach in developing the education sector of Dubai, DSIB would be inspecting whether private schools in Dubai are hiring qualified teachers.  DSIB would assess the teachers based on their

  • Knowledge on the subject
  • Ability to promote creative and imaginative skills of students apart from books
  • Approach towards students
  • Teaching methods and ability to plan the next step
  • Ability to encourage self-management in children

5. Students’ Personal & Social Development

KHDA focuses on the development of students on personal and social front. Therefore, in 2014, KHDA would look upon the measures taken by teachers of private schools in Dubai in encouraging

  • Leadership qualities in students
  • Discipline and self-management skills
  • Humanity and love towards humans, animals and environment
  • Positive response towards advices
  • Healthy lifestyle

By other countries taking up stands such as Government of Dubai and KHDA, it is possible to improve their education sector, thereby, creating an efficient work force, adding to the economy of the country.

Is your school finding it difficult to cope up with KHDA standards?

As the inspections happen very frequently, it is important that schools monitor their quality standards throughout the year. This is where Real-time Institution Management System (RIMS) from Edsys provides schools with an advantage. The integrated modules in this system ensure that the school authorities are notified when there is a compromise in the quality standards of a particular school.

But in order to enjoy the benefits of the KHDA Inspection software, a school will have to employ Real-time Institution Management System (RIMS). It is a comprehensive system that makes the overall management of your school easy. There are smart card solutions, GPS Tracking System, Attendance Management, School App and a lot more systems that ensure ease of management as well as student safety.