Personal development: A good proportion of private schools in Abu Dhabi prioritise pupils’ social and personal development, the latest round of inspections in these institutions has revealed.
In a statement sent by the emirate’s education sector regulator, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec), the council said that 62 per cent of the 110 inspected schools showed good standards in supporting pupils’ development. Fifty-seven per cent of schools also excelled in ensuring pupils’ safety and guidance, while 39 per cent had good teaching and assessment standards.
As part of the inspections, schools are judged in six broad areas — student achievement; students’ personal and social development and innovation skills; teaching and assessment; curriculum; student protection and guidance; and school leadership and management.

In other news:

Abu Dhabi: More than 600 new public school teachers were recently briefed about educational policies, achievements, and goals in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) announced in a statement sent today (August 15).
The Adec, which regulates the education sector in the emirate, provided information on teachers’ roles and professional expectations, as well as the UAE’s national identity, the public school curriculum, and entitlements like leaves and allowances.Schools in Abu Dhabi judged in six broad areas

WhatsApp 

Abu Dhabi: Parental anxiety may be a common when sending children to school but parents in the UAE have begun to use technology, specifically messaging services, to allay some of their fears and make the process easier, residents said.
Through services like WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned messaging application, parents are now able to get quick information from teachers and other parents on homework, assignments and school activities. They say this greatly helps reduce the stress of sending children back to school after the summer, as they feel better prepared and can, in some cases, even communicate with teachers.
“My daughter’s teacher started a group on WhatsApp for all parents with children in the same class at the start of the 2015-2016 academic year, and we welcomed the easy and convenient channel of communication,” said Mayank Goyal, 41, a sales manager from India. His daughter, Kashish, attends a British curriculum school in the capital.
“For instance, my daughter once forgot that she had an Arabic test the next day. We found out because another parent mentioned it on the group, and then we were able to prepare her for it on time. Another time, my wife found out that parents were in fact invited to a cultural day at school, and was able to attend it,” he remembers.
Goyal says parents can also exchange information on the school’s cultural activities, and that his daughter’s class teacher always responds promptly to any queries.

Source: Schools give priority to social and personal development