Abu Dhabi Education Council shuts down 6 villa schools

The Abu Dhabi Education Council on Saturday announced the closure of six villa schools in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, along with plans to open three new private schools in the emirate. The new schools, which will provide affordable schooling under the Ministry of Education curriculum, will be located in Abu Dhabi city, Baniyas and Al Ain in buildings formerly occupied by other schools. Yousuf Al Sheryani, executive director of private schools and quality assurance sector at the Adec, told Gulf News that the closure of villa schools was necessary to enhance safety for school children in the emirate. "Villa schools are usually small institutions housed in residential building or zones. They do not have adequate road access or parking for buses and other vehicles. These inadequacies therefore compromise the safety of the students and other people," he explained. "As Adec works to shut down all villa schools by 2013, it will also continue to provide alternatives for the displaced students," Al Sheryani said. The Adec official added that 49 villa schools had been operating over the 2010-2011 academic year. He also called upon owners of all other villa schools in the emirate to shut down their institutions, or to relocate all students to purpose-built facilities via Adec's licensing process. Villa schools closed • Abu Dhabi: Baraem Al Aqsa Private School, Badr Al Kobr Private School, Al Ekhlaas Private School • Al Ain: Al Amal Private School, International Private School, Zahrat Al Madain Private School. New schools to open: • International Private School (Al Ain, in the former buildings of Al Sarooj School) • Al Ekhlass Private School (Baniyas, in the former buildings of Al Mutasem School) • School by Polaris Education (Abu Dhabi city, in the former buildings of Al Dana School) From gulfnews.