Dubai School Agency gears up school principals for the new academic year

It was also an opportunity to seek comments and suggestions from the principals regarding the policies set by DSA to elevate the educational system in Dubai.

After a brief introduction about KHDA, Fatma Al Marri, CEO of the Dubai School Agency presented the goals and programs of the Agency for the academic year. She also presented the re-engineering of the Dubai Education Zone to it present structure as the Administrative Services Unit (ASU) and the soon-to-be-launched Educational Services Unit. After the presentation she emphasized the cooperation between all stakeholders to enhance and develop the educational system, stressing that the school principals are vital links in the system.

Commenting on the discussions during the open forum Fatma Al Marri said, "Our meeting with the 72 school principals today, opened a channel of communication with the educational stakeholders. It was a good opportunity to understand the challenges they are facing as well seek their opinions. We plan to hold similar meetings and workshops as each stage of the plan unfolds. This is to ensure that the educational system is restructured bottom-up, based on the need of the educational system rather than a set of predetermined policies that do not relate to the needs of the educational system."

Taha Al Hamri, acting director of ASU spoke about the advantages of the new structure that places customer satisfaction first.

Abdulla Al Madani, principal of Al Idrisi School in Al Aweer said, "The meeting was a success, as several issues at hand were discussed and resolved. Representatives from the Agency visited us at our schools and gave us their personal contact numbers. This shows that they really do put the customer first and they are seeking stakeholder engagement and consultation."

Mariam Al Hamadi, principle of Aisha Bint Sa'ad School for Girls felt, "An important issue about the cleaning of schools was solved." Commenting on the structure of the Agency and the formation of ASU she said, "This step is beneficial for all schools as now they can focus on the schools only. This will definitely result in a better service and a faster response for issues and problems that may happen in schools."

The 74 school principals placed suggestions, posed queries and highlighted specific challenges faced by them. The Agency representatives answered their queries, promising to find suitable solutions.