Amal Al Qubaisi, Director-General, Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC): Interview

Interview: Amal Al Qubaisi

What impact have inspections of private schools had on the quality of academic services?

AMAL AL QUBAISI: When ADEC established its inspection service, Irtiqa’a, it aimed to evaluate the extent to which schools contribute to the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, and to assess the performance of schools against international standards. The initiative sets standards for schools so that operators and principals are clearly aware of the levels of performance required. Schools themselves can use the framework to determine their performance, while parents can also use the framework as they choose a school for their children.

The inspection process is designed to promote improvement, accountability and transparency in the education system. It provides feedback to schools and to individual teachers. Inspectors provide advice to individual teachers on their teaching and assessment of students. Irtiqa’a also provides feedback to school leadership teams on strategic planning to improve performance, recommending strategies and approaches to improve learning outcomes. Inspections show that standards in private schools have been improving. The inspection of 118 private schools in the 2013/14 academic year found that there has been a significant decline in the number of schools needing improvement since the previous cycle of inspections. There has been a corresponding increase in the proportion of private schools that are satisfactory or outstanding.

In what ways are academic curricula being aligned with the requirements of the labour market?

AL QUBAISI: ADEC is aligning its academic curricula with labour demand through the implementation of the Abu Dhabi School Model (ADSM). During the academic year 2014/15, the ADSM will be implemented in grades K-7, with the subsequent grade rollout each year resulting in its full implementation in all grade levels by the academic year 2019/20. The ADSM is a student-centred approach to teaching and learning that is based on internationally benchmarked learning outcomes. Students are taught relevant 21st-century skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, effective written and verbal communication, as well as creativity. To support the transition of students coming from secondary school into undergraduate programmes, the English-medium curricula section of the Curriculum Division has begun initiatives to increase the levels of required English language proficiency. Moreover, ADEC works in coordination with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to promote and incentivise research, innovation, scholarship and discovery as key drivers in the development of a highly skilled, productive and competitive national workforce.

What kind of mechanisms have been put in place to develop teacher training?

AL QUBAISI: Tamkeen is ADEC’s main public school programme for the development of teachers and principals. The programme helps provide professional development for 567 school leaders and 10,803 teachers in 256 schools in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, focusing on school improvement planning, instructional leadership, teaching and learning, special educational needs, performance management, building middle leaders, professional learning communities and community engagement.

Meanwhile, private schools have a yearly goal of training 1460 principals and teachers for a minimum of 25 hours each. The Private Schools and Quality Assurance (PSQA) Sector managed to train 2098 senior and middle leaders, as well as teachers, during the last academic year, through the implementation of the training programme, Reyada, which trained 900 teachers alone. Similarly, PSQA’s target for Arabic-language and Islamic education teaching is for 2400 teachers to attend at least one training session. In addition to these steps, special emphasis is placed on providing resources and assigning outstanding teachers to rural communities, which form an integral component of the educational and social fabric for the emirate of Abu Dhabi.