ABU DHABI // Haya Al Ameri’s nerves were running high as she awaited her exam results, but the Al Yasmina School student need not have worried after scoring an A* in all 11 subjects.
“This is surreal,” said the Emirati. “Everyone believed in my abilities except for myself, so seeing that reflected in my results is an amazing feeling.”
Haya’s grades means she has the pick of schools to continue her education. “This opens so many doors for me,” she said. “I wasn’t planning on checking my results until I return from holiday, but the school called with my results.”
Her compatriot Sarah Alzaabi, from Al Bateen Secondary School, also performed well, achieving A*/A marks in biology, chemistry, English language and literature, mathematics, physics, Arabic, design technology, and geography.
The pass rate at Al Yasmina and Al Bateen schools, part of Aldar Academies, across all I/GCSE examinations was 97 per cent.
I/GCSE students achieved an A*/A grade in around half of the examinations taken, more than double the UK’s national average of 21 per cent.
A total of 395 students sat for I/GCSEs this year – 216 at Al Yasmina and 179 at Al Bateen – and about 30 achieved nine or more A*/A marks in all of their exams.
“Across academies, we have seen about a 10 per cent increase in the number of students achieving five A* to C,” said Peter Carpenter, director of education for Aldar Academies.
nalremeithi@thenational.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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