British curriculum schools operating in Dubai will be inspected and certified by the UK government under a new agreement, Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has said. Fifty-four schools in the emirate will be subject to inspections by the new British Schools Overseas (BSO) as well as annual checks by the KHDA. “BSO inspections enable parents, the school and other stakeholders to see how the school measures up against the standards that apply to independent schools in the UK, taking into account local requirements,” KHDA said in a statement. The BSO, a voluntary scheme introduced in Britain in 2010, enables schools to be inspected against a common set of criteria. Schools must be able to demonstrate that their curriculum and ethos are relevant to British culture. An estimated 5500 English schools operate internationally with around 2200 teaching elements of the National Curriculum for England and Wales, according to the Council for British International Schools. From/arabianbusiness