Sharjah’s weak or very weak-rated private schools will no longer be able to accept new students. The schools will receive their rankings after Sharjah Private Education Authority (SPEA) conducts inspections, which began on 16 October and last until March. They will be evaluated based on how effectively they will perform in areas such as curricula, teaching evaluations, leadership, student accomplishment, wellbeing, and protection.
Each school will host SPEA experts for four days as part of the evaluation process, and schools could also face administrative penalties if they fail to improve. These include not being able to increase fees and being forbidden from putting into action expansion plans until they progress their performance and ranking.
Each school will host SPEA experts for four days as part of the evaluation process
For schools with a good rating, the evaluation will take place every two years, and for those with an excellent or very good rating, it will take place every four years.
The data will be made available to parents, according to SPEA Director Ali Al Hosani, to assist them in making informed judgments when selecting schools for their children. “A transparent, detailed, and comprehensive assessment of the performance and quality of education in the emirate’s private schools will be provided to help parents make appropriate decisions when choosing their children’s schools. Ten new private schools that opened last year in Sharjah will not be subjected to the assessment process.”
The data will be made available to parents to assist them in making informed judgments when selecting schools for their children
The assessments, which have been warmly welcomed throughout Sharjah, will need to take into account all of the different curricula, fees, education methods, and cultural backgrounds of staff, students, and parents.
Ibrahim Barakeh, Director of Al Shola Schools Group, which runs five schools in Sharjah and Ajman, commented: “We certainly agree on the goal of the evaluation process, which is to raise the quality of education. But we have reservations about the method and assessment tools.”
Only time will tell, but everyone agrees that this is a very positive step forward by SPEA.