Dubai: All public and private schools will get at least eight days of holidays in early December with the announcement that Thursday, December 4, will also be a holiday as it falls between the National Day and Eid Al Adha vacations, Gulf News has learnt.
National Day holidays will start on Tuesday and Wednesday (December 2 and 3), the additional day off will be added to the calendar to connect to the Eid Al Adha holidays which are expected to fall on December 7, said Rashid Al Nua'mi, Director Manager of the Education Ministry.
Since many students do not come to classes between the two public holidays, the ministry decided to make it a holiday while enforcing schools to make up for that day.
Last Eid Al Fitr, when a public holiday was given to the government sector for four days starting Monday, September 29, the Ministry instead announced a whole week off for schools while making up for that additional time on a later day.
Although Al Nua'ami said a circular was sent to schools on Sunday, October 26, announcing Saturday, November 1, as a school day, principals said they only found out about it from Arabic newspapers on Wednesday. "This is such a short-notice," they said.
"In the student's mind, this additional day will be recorded as only absent for one day with no repercussions and we cannot hold anything against the student because we don't have a rule that says we can. Imagine when you have most students doing that you can't complete the curriculum and this is the real crisis we are going through," said Mohammad Al Mas, Principal of Al Ma'aref School for boys.
Al Nu'ami acknowledged there is no regulation on that matter saying schools should be strict with their students to comply.
According to the academic calendar for public schools, students will only have five to six days of classes in December since almost two weeks will be spent on public holidays, and their last day of classes before their exam period for the first term will be on the 18th of the month.
"Even if our students have classes every Saturday till the end of the term we still can't finish the curriculum on time," said Mohammad Hassan, principal of Mohammad Bin Rashid public school.
Education zones of each emirate are expected to carry out all necessary procedures to ensure buses are available for students on Saturday, said an official from the Ministry.
Private international schools and Asian schools have the flexibility to adjust their schedules according to their curriculum, said Al Nu'ami.
Classes on November 1
The previous announcement by the Education Ministry to include Sunday, September 28, of Ramadan as a holiday on condition schools make up for that day, announced that this Saturday, November 1, will be a school day for public kindergartens and schools, adult education centres, as well as Arabic schools that teach the Education Ministry curriculum.
Are you worried about your child's academic performance? Why? How do extra holidays impact academics? Should other schools follow suit?
By Siham Al Najami, Staff Reporter