UAE.. Schools monitor the psychological and behavioral needs of students through an electronic questionnaire

Public and private school administrations, which apply the Ministry of Education’s curriculum, have been monitoring the psychological and behavioral needs of students during the recent period, through a specialized electronic questionnaire, targeting parents, to enhance the educational and psychological support system within the school environment, and improve the level of services provided to students in line with their integrated growth requirements. The questionnaire, which was distributed electronically via the digital forms platform and viewed by Emirates Today, included a set of behavioral and emotional indicators that allow the guardian to evaluate his son or daughter’s behavior according to specific grades that include “never,” “sometimes,” and “often.”

The questionnaire items focused on multiple aspects, most notably sleeping difficulties, frequent anxiety, the desire to become too close to others, low self-esteem, taking unnecessary risks, being exposed to harm, lack of fun, acting younger than the actual age, not adhering to the rules, poor expression of feelings, limited understanding of the feelings of others, blaming others, taking things without permission, and refusing to participate.
The questionnaire also provided an open space for parents to clarify whether the student needs additional support to deal with emotional or behavioral aspects, in addition to another question that allows for suggesting appropriate services that parents would like to provide to their children, such as psychological counselling, behavior modification programmes, social support sessions, or emotional skills development workshops.

School administrations confirmed in letters to parents that participation in the questionnaire is optional, and that all data provided is treated with complete confidentiality and used for developmental purposes only, with the aim of building intervention plans based on real needs, and enhancing cooperation between the school and the family in supporting students psychologically and behaviorally.

She indicated that the results of the questionnaire will contribute to designing targeted guidance and awareness programs, and activating the role of social and psychological specialists within schools, ensuring the provision of a safe and stimulating educational environment for students’ academic and emotional growth.

This measure comes within modern educational trends that focus on the mental health of students as a fundamental pillar of the educational process, and the necessity of effective partnership between the school and the family to monitor behavioral and emotional changes in students and provide early intervention to address them, in a way that enhances the quality of educational outcomes and establishes a supportive and comprehensive school environment.