OECD Review of Well-being Policies and Practices in Dubai’s Private School Sector
In recent years, the Emirate of Dubai has been placing a stronger emphasis on people’s well-being with the aim of making Dubai “an inclusive and cohesive society (…) that is the preferred place to live, work and visit and a pivotal hub in the global economy”. Within the education sector, KHDA and private schools have introduced a number of initiatives to help raise awareness, measure and support students’ and staff’s well-being. Given the central role education and educators have in fostering and supporting empowered, healthy and happy communities, these interventions hold great potential.
This report analyses the well-being policies and practices that KHDA and schools have implemented in Dubai’s private school sector. In order to fulfil this objective, the OECD has taken a holistic picture view of well-being in education, which is discussed in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 looks at Dubai’s private schools as a whole, focusing on the school leadership and other key school staff. Chapter 4 focuses on teachers and their well-being, an issue that has been relatively overlooked until recently. Finally, Chapter 5 discusses student well-being and empowerment.
Well-being in Dubai’s private schools
What happens in schools is key to understanding whether students, teachers and staff enjoy good physical and mental health, and how happy and satisfied they are with different aspects of their life. School practices and initiatives can help – or indeed hinder – efforts to build a nurturing environment and positive social connections. This chapter looks at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA)’s and Dubai’s private schools’ efforts to foster well-being in schools, highlighting some of the strengths and limitations of the current approach. Moreover, this chapter discusses some of the steps that could help ensure students and staff across the sector are adequately supported in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the years to come.