1,800 pupils to help in step towards assessing Dubai's schools

Field trials for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) will begin on May 1.

They will involve 1,800 pupils, who will sit tests which have been established internationally.

Dubai will then join the 67 countries that will take part in PISA in 2009.

PISA measures how effectively pupils near the end of compulsory education have acquired knowledge and skills that are essential for their participation in society.

The full programme, assessing all of Dubai's 15-year-olds, will start in May, 2009.

It is one of a series of international assessment schemes, which began with the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study programme in November last year, that Dubai Schools Agency, an agency of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai, is adopting to measure and improve education in Dubai.

PISA is an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) programme that is developed through the OECD's Directorate for Education.

The Directorate collects data and provides comparative indicators of education systems in OECD member and partner countries.

Fatma Al Marri, CEO of the Dubai Schools Agency, said,

"The assessment is forward looking, focusing on young people's ability to use their knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges, rather than merely on the extent to which they have mastered a specific school curriculum. This orientation reflects a change in the goals and objectives of curricula themselves, which increasingly address what students can do with what they learn at school and not merely whether they can reproduce what they have learned".

She went on, "The assessment results answer questions such as "Are our schools adequately preparing young people for the challenges of adult life?", "Are some kinds of teaching and schools more effective than others?" and "Can schools contribute to improving the future of students from immigrant or disadvantaged backgrounds?"

"Achieving these things requires commitment from everyone - the schools, the teachers, the parents and, more importantly, the students themselves".

Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of KHDA, said, "Quality education is a valuable asset for future generations. Measuring and assessing standards in schools is imperative if we want to know where we are versus where we want to be.

"Assessment tests like PISA help us raise the educational bar to international standards. The results of these tests will feed into our learning and human development strategy and years from now we will be able to evaluate where we stand against this moment in time".

He added, "The PISA surveys will examine the performance of students in key subject areas. They will also look at a wider range of educational outcomes that include motivation to learn, their beliefs about themselves and their learning strategies.

"The results will examine how performance varies between the genders and between socio-economic groups. They will also provide insights into some of the factors that influence the development of knowledge and skills at home and at school.

"These are crucial findings for us in a diverse setting like Dubai. It will be interesting to see how these factors interact and what the implications will be for policy development.

"It is also important for us to look at the whole picture of education in Dubai, and how the opportunities we offer prepare a student to go on to higher education or training, and then into the workplace. Assessments such as PISA will help us with this holistic approach to personal development".

The KHDA has made quality in education a cornerstone of its work in Dubai, along with the need to educate young people who will take the Emirate forward in the coming years in line with the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015.