Parent surveys from KHDA

Sun 24 October 2010 Source : KHDA Dubai, October 24, 2010 – Parents of school pupils in Dubai are to be asked what they think about their children’s education in a questionnaire from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). Last year, for the first time ever in Dubai, parents’ views were canvassed and their opinions were charted in the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB’s) Annual Report 2010. This year’s survey asks questions covering eight aspects of teaching and schools, and asks parents for their general comments. An optional section will also gather data about how much education costs (See questionnaire attached). The questions have been enhanced this year after analyzing the feedback from parents who took part in last year’s survey. The questionnaire is part of DSIB and KHDA’s ongoing commitment to improving the quality of education in partnership with parents, principals, teachers, and school owners. Jameela Al Muhairi, Chief, DSIB, said: “We were happy with the outcome of last year’s questionnaire, which 39% of parents answered, but of course this year we hope more will respond. [b'> “The parents are given access to answer our questions online just before their child’s school is due to be inspected. This means that our inspectors have another viewpoint to consider when they visit a school. We hope that parents understand how important their opinions are to us, and how much we all need to work together to improve our schools.[/b'> [b'>“For these reasons, we are urging all parents to take the time to answer our questions. They are completely confidential and the picture they give us of how our schools operate is invaluable.”[/b'> So far in this cycle of inspections, which began on October 3, 60,894 surveys have been sent to parents at schools due to be inspected throughout this month. DSIB has already received 26,450 responses from parents. This means that 45% of parents with children at these schools have responded. This is a significant increase from the 40% of parents that responded from these same schools last year, perhaps reflecting more engagement with the work of inspectors. DSIB is expecting further responses so this rate should increase further. Of the schools that have been inspected both last year and so far this year, 71% have shown an increased response rate from parents. Parents are given a unique user name and password to protect their identity when they complete the online survey. DSIB, which is part of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), used the parents’ responses in their individual school reports, with a summary also included in the DSIB Annual Report 2010. Although answers to the multiple choice questions were mainly positive, parents did take the opportunity in the comments section to both praise and criticize their childrens’ schools.

in my school the questionnaires were only given to parents that seem to 'like' the school or are quite involved. Not to parents who make a fuss and complain all the time! :\:

The letter that was sent from the Head today stated " A [b'>sample[/b'> of the parent body has been asked to complete an online survey by KHDA". Out of a handful of mums only one of us got handed the magic envelope with an online log in. Now why would this be? Surely every parent has the right to fill in the survey? I understand the surveys have a quite an influence on the inspection report which is why there is so much encouragement to get them filled in. The surveys remain anonymous just the statistics are given to the schools as feedback, well this is what we were told last year. Mabel you say a possible administrative error, hmm.

hmm, these were handed to selected parents today by the class teachers.