SEND management software built for KHDA — not an Abu Dhabi product with the labels swapped.

Abu Dhabi school regulated by ADEK rather than KHDA? See our ADEK page instead →

Dubai and Abu Dhabi are both in the UAE, but they run different inclusion frameworks with different regulators — ADEK in Abu Dhabi, KHDA in Dubai. Dubai private schools operate under KHDA's Dubai Inclusive Education Policy Framework (2017): schools cannot refuse admission on the basis of disability, must budget for the facilities and resources enrolled students of determination need, and any additional fee for complex-needs support is expected to reflect the actual cost of delivery — a fee-transparency expectation ADEK's framework doesn't carry in the same way. Inspection runs through DSIB (Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau), a separate cycle from ADEK/Irtiqaa. As with ADEK, there's no KHDA-issued statutory individual plan — the plan stays school-held, not authority-issued. OMNIA was built to reflect that shape, not an Abu Dhabi build with "KHDA" swapped into the copy.

DSIB inspections, tracked as they actually run

OMNIA tracks each pupil's DSIB inspection cycle year and last rating as free text — deliberately, since KHDA's inspection format is a moving target: schools report the 2026-27 cycle splits inspections into full inspections (published ratings) and shorter monitoring visits (focused reports, no rating change), with notice windows and self-evaluation expectations that have also changed recently. We track your cycle and rating; we don't lock you into a hard-coded rating scale or claim to generate a DSIB-specific submission format we haven't built.

ILSA — the nuance ADEK's framework doesn't have

Dubai schools commonly report running a three-tier in-school model under KHDA's framework: Quality First Teaching, then a school-held plan (often called an ILP or IEP), then a highest tier backed by an Individual Learning Support Assistant (ILSA) — a 1:1 support role that's distinctively parent-funded, requires the school's formal approval, and needs an approved external provider. That's genuinely different from ADEK's Educational Adjustments Agreement (EAA) process, which has no ILSA equivalent. OMNIA tracks ILSA status (none / requested / approved / active), the provider name, and whether funding has been confirmed with parents — it does not vet or recommend providers.

Pupil Passport and fee transparency

A Pupil Passport is commonly used at the middle tier of this model — OMNIA's existing Pupil Passport (the same artefact used across every OMNIA jurisdiction, not a separate KHDA-specific document) covers that. Alongside it, OMNIA records whether Parent School Contract fee terms for complex-needs support have been agreed with the family, with a reference field — reflecting KHDA's fee-transparency expectation without OMNIA generating or negotiating the contract itself.

Three things Dubai inclusion leads ask for first

• DSIB cycle visibility. Cycle year and last rating on every pupil record, in free text that doesn't assume a fixed rating scale.
• ILSA tracking that matches how it actually works here. Status, provider and parent-funding confirmation for a role that's genuinely distinct from anything in the ADEK process.
• A fee-transparency record tied to the Parent School Contract. Terms agreed and a reference, sitting next to the Pupil Passport your middle tier already uses.

The honest position

None of the above is exhaustive legal advice — it's what KHDA-regulated Dubai schools commonly report about how their own inclusion framework runs, not a restatement of settled law. OMNIA does not replace KHDA guidance, the inclusion lead's professional judgment, or external specialist involvement, and it does not generate DSIB submission formats or vet ILSA providers on your behalf. It's a platform for the everyday work — planning, evidence, communication and compliance — that frees inclusion leaders to do what only they can do.