In Dubai, 20 schools still fail to make grade



Twenty of 22 Dubai schools that were judged as unsatisfactory during recent inspections are still not meeting basic standards, officials have announced. The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) examined 189 schools between October and April and found that about 20,000 students were attending establishments that failed health, safety and education requirements. One school was reprimanded for its use of corporal punishment, while others were cited for unsafe buses, poor academic standards and low quality of instruction.

When final inspection reports were released in May, many underperforming schools complained that government caps on tuition fee increases would prevent them from improving, even though the new caps, linked to inspection results, were similar to those previously in place. The KHDA said on Monday that only two of the cited schools had made what the authority deems sufficient progress. The Star International School - Al Twar, owned by ETA-Star Holdings, and the Oxford School will be exempt from further check-ups, although neither will be moved to a better category until the next round of inspections in 2010.

The other 20 schools will continue to receive visits from the KHDA's Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau every three months until sufficient progress is made, officials said. "There is a huge variety between these schools," said Jameela Al Muhairi, the chief of the DSIB. "They have different areas which need improvement, from matters of health and safety to discipline, from teaching standards to educational outcomes."

At the grammar school, inspectors on their follow-up visit noted that corporal punishment had not ceased; students reported that staff continued to discipline them physically. The school had reduced "dangerous overcrowding" on buses. Yet students were still not arriving on time or staying the entire school day, they found. Fatima Martin, principal of the non-profit Al Ameen Private School, which has been operating for 17 years in Dubai, complained that the KHDA waited three and a half months to publish the school's follow-up report after it received an unsatisfactory rating.

Her school was said to have made "acceptable" progress on all but one point, its action plan for improving conditions, making it subject to another follow-up. "What the KHDA is doing is totally unfair," Ms Martin said. "The inspections were conducted in March; I received the report two days back after the school has closed, and we have made a lot of progress between March and June. Now for the KHDA to publish these reports, it's not fair at all, and what purpose does it serve?

"I can't use the points mentioned in the report because we have moved a long way from then." Ms Martin added: "If I am going to be sharing this report to my staff, it will certainly have a demoralising effect, because they are going to think that the school has given us so much training, we are doing things differently, standards have risen, but why is it not reflected in the report? "There was massive training that happened in the school. We raised standards ... It doesn't really make sense to publish a report on an inspection that was conducted three and a half months back."

Of the 22 schools deemed unsatisfactory, 17 are private and five are run by the state. Another 10 schools graded "acceptable" by inspectors were revisited because they failed certain standards. Of those, three will not need another visit by inspectors, officials said. klewis@thenational.ae

1971: The Year The Music Changed Everything

Director: Asif Kapadia

4/5

How to avoid crypto fraud
  • Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
  • Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
  • Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
  • Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
  • Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
  • Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
  • Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
Results

United States beat UAE by three wickets

United States beat Scotland by 35 runs

UAE v Scotland – no result

United States beat UAE by 98 runs

Scotland beat United States by four wickets

Fixtures

Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland

Admission is free

ETFs explained

Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.

ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.

There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
  • Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
  • Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
  • Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
 
 
How much of your income do you need to save?

The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.

In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)

Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.

 

Why%20all%20the%20lefties%3F
%3Cp%3ESix%20of%20the%20eight%20fast%20bowlers%20used%20in%20the%20ILT20%20match%20between%20Desert%20Vipers%20and%20MI%20Emirates%20were%20left-handed.%20So%2075%20per%20cent%20of%20those%20involved.%0D%3Cbr%3EAnd%20that%20despite%20the%20fact%2010-12%20per%20cent%20of%20the%20world%E2%80%99s%20population%20is%20said%20to%20be%20left-handed.%0D%3Cbr%3EIt%20is%20an%20extension%20of%20a%20trend%20which%20has%20seen%20left-arm%20pacers%20become%20highly%20valued%20%E2%80%93%20and%20over-represented%2C%20relative%20to%20other%20formats%20%E2%80%93%20in%20T20%20cricket.%0D%3Cbr%3EIt%20is%20all%20to%20do%20with%20the%20fact%20most%20batters%20are%20naturally%20attuned%20to%20the%20angles%20created%20by%20right-arm%20bowlers%2C%20given%20that%20is%20generally%20what%20they%20grow%20up%20facing%20more%20of.%0D%3Cbr%3EIn%20their%20book%2C%20%3Cem%3EHitting%20Against%20the%20Spin%3C%2Fem%3E%2C%20cricket%20data%20analysts%20Nathan%20Leamon%20and%20Ben%20Jones%20suggest%20the%20advantage%20for%20a%20left-arm%20pace%20bowler%20in%20T20%20is%20amplified%20because%20of%20the%20obligation%20on%20the%20batter%20to%20attack.%0D%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%9CThe%20more%20attacking%20the%20batsman%2C%20the%20more%20reliant%20they%20are%20on%20anticipation%2C%E2%80%9D%20they%20write.%0D%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%9CThis%20effectively%20increases%20the%20time%20pressure%20on%20the%20batsman%2C%20so%20increases%20the%20reliance%20on%20anticipation%2C%20and%20therefore%20increases%20the%20left-arm%20bowler%E2%80%99s%20advantage.%E2%80%9D%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission: nine-speed

Power: 542bhp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: Dh848,000

On sale: now

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Game Changer

Director: Shankar 

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5