ABU DHABI // Seventeen private schools, including two all-girls institutes, are expected to open in the emirate over the next two years, and between them they will enrol 24,000 pupils.
Abu Dhabi Education Council said the schools would help to meet rising demand, as the student population is growing at about 5 per cent a year and is expected to reach 283,798 by 2020. This year, there are 236,800 pupils studying in 186 private schools.
“The private sector has been a major strategic partner for Adec and we work together to provide students with opportunities, access, quality and different options,” said Hamad Al Dhaheri, Adec’s executive director of private schools and quality assurance.
“That partnership resulted in building more than 56 schools over the past five years and adding more than 70,000 seats, with investments exceeding Dh3 billion.”
He said British, American and Indian curriculums were parents’ most requested education systems, but other curriculums were also in demand.
There was also a growing interest in all-girls schools in some communities, said Tareq Al Ameri, Adec’s business development manager.
For example, Liwa International School is opening the first private all-girls school in Al Ain for kindergarteners to Grade 10. The US-curriculum school will expand to Grade 12 in the future and will eventually have capacity for 1,000 pupils.
The school would be only for “girls because they are in Al Ain and the locals prefer it”, said Mr Al Ameri. “The benefit is that it offers the students a very restricted environment. You will avoid distractions, for example, or any issues or concerns, especially when they start from Grade 6 and above.”
Dr Shereen Gobran, principal of Liwa International School, said the school would be staffed exclusively by women during teaching hours.
“All the staff in the school, including the administration, teachers and workers will be women, ensuring an all-girls environment in the school,” said Dr Gobran, adding that male employees will be allowed on the premises only after the children had left.
“Al Ain is a conservative city that values traditions. We are here to cater to this demand by providing a safe and healthy environment for its daughters.”
Aldar Academies is also opening its first all-girls private secondary school in Abu Dhabi in September, in response to demand from parents. Boys and girls can enrol in the primary grades at Al Mamoura School, but it will be girls-only for year seven and above.
It will offer the English national curriculum, and the British A-levels and the International Baccalaureate diploma programme for pupils in years 12 and 13.
Peter Carpenter, Aldar Academies’ director of education, said there were reasons why parents wanted their daughters to be educated at girls-only schools.
“They want to be sure that their daughters get an excellent education,” he said, adding that pupils from girls-only schools in Britain and the United States fared better in examinations.
“They are also aware that it gives the girls an opportunity to choose subjects which, in a mixed context, girls might feel less confident about or reluctant to choose.”
Aldar Academies will also open West Yas School, a mixed-gender US-curriculum institute on Yas Island in September. When at full capacity, Al Mamoura and West Yas will accommodate as many as 3,600 pupils.
“We’re just trying to widen the opportunities for children to get what we consider to be a really good education, that’s the prime objective,” said Mr Carpenter.
An open house for the new Aldar Academies schools will be held next Monday at Al Yasmina School. Registration for the Liwa International School for girls is also open.
rpennington@thenational.ae
