Aligned with the aim to be the world’s happiest city, the Government of Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has embarked on a large-scale agenda of measuring and improving the wellbeing of students and staff at its 200+ private schools. In November 2017, KHDA commenced a five-year project of an annual wellbeing census of its middle year students, in collaboration with the South Australian Government. Senior students were added in the second year of the Census. In response to school staff requests, KHDA commenced an adult wellbeing survey in November 2018, based on the PERMAH survey of Dr Peggy Kern and Michelle McQuaid.
This poster presents the results of the first two years of the Dubai Student Wellbeing Census and the first year of the Adults@School Wellbeing Survey. In its second year, about 100,000 students participated in the Census making it one of the largest youth wellbeing surveys in the world. Significant differences have been observed across Dubai’s students, reflecting variances in cultural background, gender and age. The poster will also reflect on collaboration across the school community with schools sharing ideas, challenges and successes for improving the wellbeing of students and staff.