DUBAI // Indian schools plan to redouble efforts to rise in the school inspection-board rankings by transforming the curriculum and re-energising their teachers.
A lack of focus on Arabic and Islamic studies, an uninspired curriculum, didactic teaching and inadequate evaluation standards were among the criticisms from the Dubai Schools Inspection Board report.
But parents and teachers argued that curriculum changes take time to be effective and low fee structures made it difficult to retain talent.
“Inspections are a good thing because they encourage introspection and new ideas,” said V C Vinod, a management consultant and parent with two children in Delhi Private School.
The school has stayed in the good category for five years, since inspections were initiated by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority.
“It’s more than bricks and mortar that make a school and the variables are the teachers. Part of the problem is how to attract experienced teachers unless schools can afford better salaries,” he said.
“Indian schools are constantly scavenging for teachers and usually make do with teachers who move here when they accompany their husbands.”
Delhi Private School plans to overhaul the teaching of Arabic and Islamic studies. “We have hired a stronger faculty and changed the curriculum to make it more skills-based,” said Rashmi Nandkeolyar, the principal. “We plan continuous professional development of Arabic teachers and will set up language labs and provide audio-visual aids.
“We will celebrate festivals like Diwali and Eid, with Arabic-language teachers involved.”
Future planning aside, the performance of most Indian schools remained static from the previous year.
Only JSS International rose to good from acceptable.
“We focused on last year’s recommendations about giving creative opportunities to kindergarten children,” said Lata Nakra, vice principal of JSS.
“We introduced the play method, involved curriculum trainers from Canada and got our teachers trained and this drastically changed the outlook, with children learning outside the classroom.”
Innovation is key, according to Darryl Bloud, principal of Gems Modern Academy, which has been ranked outstanding for the past three years.
“We constantly think about improving because we don’t want to stagnate in the outstanding rank,” he said. “Teachers have got students engaged and children now want to be responsible for their own investigations.”
Ashok Kumar, principal of Indian High School, which has also been ranked outstanding for three years, said training was vital.
“If schools spend more time on training, others will break through to higher ranks,” he said.
It is back to the drawing board for Elite English School, which moved to good in 2010 before sliding back to acceptable for the past three years.
The school was praised for uncovering the talent of special-needs students in drama, music and arts.
But school authorities said low annual tuition fees of Dh4,000 to Dh8,000 made growth difficult.
“The special-needs unit has helped teachers in other grades to understand students who are slow learners,” said Vatsala Mathai, Elite’s principal. “We would like to train teachers better. If we were allowed a fee increase we could offer teachers a good package.”
rtalwar@thenational.ae
