New Schools for Dubai in The Academic Year 2021-22

On Tuesday, 8^th June, the UAE’s education supervisory body, Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) said that Dubai is all set to get 10 private schools in the next academic calendar. These schools will increase the number of seats for students by 14,671.

About The New Schools

The schools are situated in Tilal Al Ghaf, Al Karama, Al Barsha, Al Warqa, City Walk, Mirdif, Al Khawaneej, Nad Al Sheba, and Rashidiya. The curriculum being taught will be based on Australian, British, American, or the IB Board.

This would be the first time that the Australian curriculum is being introduced in educational institutions in Dubai. Moreover, it will also mark the opening of Dubai’s first campus of the UK’s prestigious Royal Grammar School Guildford, which is half a millennium old. This school will have spots for 2,100 students when ready, offering both GCSE and A-level certificates. This will happen towards the end of the year, which makes the total number of international branch private schools in Dubai seven.

In September, two lesser expensive schools will also be introduced under an initiative called Dubai Schools. This will be carried out by the private sector in collaboration with official funding. Taleem, one of the UAE’s best education service providers, will run this under the guidance of KHDA. They will teach the American curriculum along with Islamic principles.              

Mohammed Darwish, CEO of Permits and Compliance at KHDA, said that they would be pleased to welcome 10 new academies to Dubai, which will now offer parents more educational options. This is much needed as there is increasing demand in UAE for new centres of learning. He feels that this is an indicator of the resilience of Dubai’s private education sector.

It is also a reflection of how well the KHDA’s approach is working in welcoming first-class schools that are up to Dubai’s standards and meet its requirements. Mohammed Darwish added that the new educational institutions are being introduced to propel Dubai’s growth as an international education destination.

The UAE Education Sector’s Current State

Over the last past three years, 25 new private schools came up in Dubai overall. The city faced a 2.6 percent rise in student enrollment between September 2929 and February 2021. This is based on the most recent landscape report that KHDA published, back in February 2021.

At the moment, Dubai has 210 schools, which offer 17 different curricula. The number of students presently enrolled includes 138,917 girls and 147,671 boys, making it a total of 286,588 pupils. Out of total enrolment, 38 percent of students, that is, 110000 students’ study in schools teaching the UK curriculum. 75,000 students are enrolled in schools teaching the Indian curriculum, making it the second most demanded option.

Difficulties related to Covid had led to low attendance this past year. But with the Covid vaccinations being available for all children over 12 soon, schools are looking forward to full attendance again in the coming academic year. As of now, schools are following a mixed format of teaching. Parents have the choice between physical, in-person classes and long-distance, online learning.