The new headmaster of Dubai College says the UAE branches of British private schools cannot yet match the quality of the country's established schools.
Dr Carlo Ferrario said Repton Dubai and planned new branches such as the UAE offshoot of Oundle School might not be able to compete with established schools immediately.
He made the comments three weeks after starting at Dubai College, where he replaced Eric Parton, headmaster for 18 years.
"A school cannot transplant from one environment into a totally alien environment and expect to be producing the same thing right from the start," Dr Ferrario said.
"Just because Repton has 450 years of tradition in the UK, that doesn't mean it will immediately reproduce that tradition. You don't create quality straight away. It takes time to establish a reputation. Dubai College has been doing that for 30 years."
Repton Dubai opened in 2007 as an overseas branch of Repton School in Derbyshire, UK, which dates back to 1557. Another prestigious British private school, Oundle, based in Northamptonshire, UK, plans to open in Dubai in 2009, and a third, Dulwich College, is interested in launching in the UAE.
Dubai College, which follows a British curriculum, was set up as an independent school and is not a branch of an overseas institution.
The opening of branch schools mirrors the situation in higher education. Many foreign universities have set up campuses in the UAE and several other institutions are due to open.
Dr Ferrario said he did not intend to criticise the new branch schools and added that Dubai's rapid growth meant there was "a place" for different types of schools.
"I don't feel Dubai College is threatened by the establishment of these schools because they will cater for different needs and expanding needs."
Dr Ferrario has extensive experience in the British private school system, having taught at Sherborne School in Dorset before becoming a deputy headmaster at Clifton College, Bristol, and St Benedict's School, Ealing. He described Dubai College as "very much" in the model of a British private school.
He himself was educated at a state-funded school, the London Oratory, which was attended by three children of the former British prime minister Tony Blair.
A geography graduate of Christ Church College, Oxford, Dr Ferrario has a PhD from University College London, where he studied the industrial and economic development in northern Italy in the 16th to 18th centuries.
He is "very open-minded" about Dubai College introducing the increasingly popular international baccalaureate (IB) examination, which has replaced A-levels as the final school qualification in many British schools.
"My ideal scenario would be to offer both. So many schools in Britain are taking up the IB that doing it is not against the British curriculum," he said.
He said the IB was externally managed and did not suffer the "government meddling" that people are "fed up" of seeing with the A-level.
"Some people feel it's offering something better balanced and more holistic. It has a wider range of subjects and pupils are challenged in different ways."
He described Dubai College as "probably the most successful school in Dubai" in terms of academic results, but said he was ambitious for further improvements.
The school, which takes children aged 11 to 18, is heavily oversubscribed, with about 450 applications each year for 120 places.
"I challenge people to look at how they do things and how can we make them better," he said.
"There are always ways. The school has a very established teaching population, but they have to be inspired to look at how they are doing and how can we do things better."
Dr Ferrario insisted, however, that academic success should not come at the expense of developing rounded individuals.
"We're not an exam factory, although others may believe we are. I have no sense of that," he said.
For the moment, Dr Ferrario is concentrating on the transition from being a deputy headmaster to headmaster.
"I found myself at the start thinking that I should be doing other things. I am so clued up to doing things a deputy head should be doing, but it's not my job to be doing these things," he said.
The "day-to-day management" of the school is carried out by deputy heads, leaving Dr Ferrario to concentrate on "strategic planning and vision".
"You change from being a manager to being a leader of the school. It takes time to drop the other things and adopt the mantle of the new role. It's a bit like dressing with new clothes," he said.
Repton Dubai and Oundle School were unavailable for comment on Dr Ferrario's remarks.
dbardsley@thenational.ae
Match info
Manchester United 1 (Van de Beek 80') Crystal Palace 3 (Townsend 7', Zaha pen 74' & 85')
Man of the match Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
UFC Fight Night 2
1am – Early prelims
2am – Prelims
4am-7am – Main card
7:30am-9am – press cons
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
New Zealand squad
Tim Southee (capt), Trent Boult (games 4 and 5), Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson (games 1-3), Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
The%20specs
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Rawat Al Reef, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Noof KB, Richard Mullen, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Seven Skies, Bernardo Pinheiro, Qaiss Aboud
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Jabalini, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7pm: UAE Arabian Derby – Prestige (PA) Dh150,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Dergham Athbah, Richard Mullen, Mohamed Daggash
7.30pm: Emirates Championship – Group 1 (PA) Dh1,000,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
8pm: Abu Dhabi Championship – Group 3 (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Irish Freedom, Antonio Fresu, Satish Seemar
The biog
Age: 19
Profession: medical student at UAE university
Favourite book: The Ocean at The End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman
Role model: Parents, followed by Fazza (Shiekh Hamdan bin Mohammed)
Favourite poet: Edger Allen Poe
The Energy Research Centre
Founded 50 years ago as a nuclear research institute, scientists at the centre believed nuclear would be the “solution for everything”.
Although they still do, they discovered in 1955 that the Netherlands had a lot of natural gas. “We still had the idea that, by 2000, it would all be nuclear,” said Harm Jeeninga, director of business and programme development at the centre.
"In the 1990s, we found out about global warming so we focused on energy savings and tackling the greenhouse gas effect.”
The energy centre’s research focuses on biomass, energy efficiency, the environment, wind and solar, as well as energy engineering and socio-economic research.
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Table
1 UAE 5 5 0 10
2 Qatar 5 4 1 8
3 Saudi 5 3 2 6
4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4
5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2
6 Maldives 5 0 5 0
MATCH INFO
Europa League semi-final, second leg
Atletico Madrid (1) v Arsenal (1)
Where: Wanda Metropolitano
When: Thursday, kick-off 10.45pm
Live: On BeIN Sports HD
Scores
Wales 74-24 Tonga
England 35-15 Japan
Italy 7-26 Australia
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
HAEMOGLOBIN DISORDERS EXPLAINED
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
South and West: From a Notebook
Joan Didion
Fourth Estate
ENGLAND TEAM
Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root (captain), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 3
Fleck 19, Mousset 52, McBurnie 90
Manchester United 3
Williams 72, Greenwood 77, Rashford 79
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
TEAMS
EUROPE:
Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren, Thorbjorn Olesen, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson
USA:
Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau ( 1 TBC)
