Parents of the roughly 2,200 pupils at Al Worood Academy Private School will have plenty of questions in the wake of Abu Dhabi Education Council's decision to revoke its operating licence at the end of the academic year. So too will the community at large about Adec's decision to take over an institution that had already been identified as "in need of significant improvement" well before a three-year-old pupil, Nizhana Aalaa, died after being left on a school bus.
Of primary concern to the parents will be the need to find new school places for their children. This could prove to be a difficult task in a sector that is already stretched to capacity. This is particularly so for Al Worood, which is described as a mid-priced school, with annual fees ranging from Dh14,193 for KG1 to Dh31,448 for Grade 12. Cost is likely to have been a major reason why most of the families chose the school.
One major question will be how Adec will run the school until it closes in August. The threshold for this kind of intervention has to be set high because of the disruption that inevitably follows. For example, many of the teachers will be distracted from the task of teaching their students by the need to polish their CVs, hoping the controversy that led to Al Worood’s demise will not colour their future employment prospects. Adec’s authority includes full financial and administrative supervision.
Similarly pressing is the question of whether another company might take over the school and reopen it in the next academic year. After all, there is nothing inherently wrong with the school’s physical structure and allowing a company that runs other high-performing schools in the emirate to take over will clearly reward success.
Another option is to make this a community school, using the model applied successfully by the British School Al Khubairat and the American Community School. These not-for-profit institutions answer to a board of directors comprised of parents and appointees and both rated highly in an Adec review last year.
Parents naturally have a stake in ensuring the school’s success, so long as they are not expected to come up with the capital cost of the school infrastructure. Their input could make the difference in turning around this school and ensure their children get the education they deserve.
