Dr Carlo Ferrario resigns from Dubai College

It was the biggest news story of the day for Dubai-based expats; Dubai College, the long-established bastion of secondary education was thrust into the headlines, with the sad news that Dr Carlo Ferrario had resigned from his position as Headmaster. Dr Ferrario had been with the school for just over a year,but in that short time had been warmly received by DC parents, students and staff. He cites interference in the running of the school by the KHDA (Knowledge and Human Development Authority), as his reason for leaving. The KHDA is seeking to improve standards across all schools, public and private. The results of a comprehensive inspection a few months ago gave top honours to only four private schools (and no public schools) in the region as "Outstanding", surprisingly not including Dubai College. There have been 'mumblings' amongst education professionals about "goal posts being moved" but generally, there seems to be a consensus that, across the board, there is a good case for universal base standards.

As a parent looking on, we have seen little change in the school system following this and a further review this month. Schools are now required to teach Arabic as a core, streamed subject, from primary but that has largely been welcomed by parents. What a wasted opportunity for the many students who see large portions of their academic years here, to leave the country without a rudimentary knowledge of the subject.

From this month, private school pupils are required to sing or hum the UAE anthem each morning and that does seem to have got caught up with the resignation issue, causing somewhat undue controversy. A child being educated in the US will pledge alliegance to the US flag every morning. Its a sign of respect and certainly nothing more sinister than that. Looking through the posts of the ExpatWoman Forum and the sms messages to a radio phone in on 103.8fm, in which we participated yesterday, we were all surprised by the strength of feeling expressed. Actually, I think it would be a jolly good idea if all the kids in the UK were to start their school day with a bracing round of "God Save the Queen". Do you think I should drop a line to the Rt Hon Ed Balls?

Dr Ferrario for sure did not resign over the singing of the national anthem. There is a genuine concern amongst parents along the lines of "what does he know that we don't know?" but unless the gentleman comes forward to detail his grievance, the topic is destined for a two week round of dinner party speculation before slipping quietly away. Dubai College is a first class school with a tremendously experienced teaching staff who will keep the system running smoothly until order is restored.

And ongoing, parents will watch with interest the results of future KHDA reports, not least because school fee increases are capped according to performance. In forming their own assessment of their childrens school / future school however, they will be taking more into account than this report. We are so lucky here now to have such a choice of schools, at such a high standard. There is a place for every child arriving in the UAE, or moving from primary to secondary, and that certainly wasn't the case ten years ago - now that really was a scandal.