Al Ekhlass Private School, Abu Dhabi

Al Ekhlass Private School is led by Principal Fouad Rasheed Jawad Almarsoumi, whose leadership team was recently strengthened by the appointment of a new vice-principal and a new head of English ahead of the 2024–25 inspection. While these additions signal a deliberate effort to build capacity, inspectors noted that the full impact of these appointments is not yet evident in classroom practice or school-wide outcomes. The leadership team holds a clear vision centred on UAE national identity and continuous improvement, and inspectors acknowledged this commitment — but self-evaluation processes were judged to be overly descriptive and insufficiently linked to the school development plan.

The most significant governance concern identified in the 2024–25 Irtiqaa inspection is a structural one: governance was rated Weak, a decline from Acceptable at the previous inspection in 2022. This followed the school's transition to a new management company appointed in October 2024, which resulted in the dissolution of the previous governing board. As of the inspection in January 2025, no new governors had been appointed, leaving the school without an active governance structure. Governors are expected to be in place by the end of the academic year, but this remains an unresolved risk for prospective families to weigh carefully.

The school's 73 teachers serve 1,249 students, producing a student-to-teacher ratio of 1:17 — notably higher than the Abu Dhabi private school average across all curricula. Among UAE Ministry of Education curriculum schools in Abu Dhabi, this ratio warrants attention, particularly given that only 3 teaching assistants support the entire student body. The inspection found teaching quality to be uneven: rated Good in Cycle 1 and Cycle 3, but remaining Acceptable in KG and Cycle 2. Teaching in the early years is predominantly didactic, with limited student-led inquiry, and questioning techniques are inconsistent across phases. Staff qualifications data is not publicly available — [MISSING: staff qualification percentages or Masters-level credential data].

On staffing stability, the inspection noted that recent professional development training has yet to be embedded into consistent practice across the school, suggesting that staff changes and new initiatives are still in a transitional phase. Teacher nationalities are predominantly Egyptian, Palestinian, and Jordanian, though no retention or turnover statistics were published. The school operates smoothly on a day-to-day basis, and inspectors described teachers as well-qualified and suitably deployed — a baseline reassurance, even if instructional depth requires further development.

Parent engagement is supported through an educational portal designed to enhance transparency, though inspectors noted its functionality requires further refinement. The partnership with parents was rated Acceptable, a decline from Good at the previous inspection, with feedback on students' personal and social development not yet fully integrated into reporting. The school actively participates in local and national initiatives, though the absence of international partnerships limits broader exposure. For parents, the leadership picture at Al Ekhlass is one of genuine ambition — but also of a school navigating a significant management transition, with governance structures and teaching consistency still catching up to that ambition.