Ministry of Education instructed schools to get back to work on Wednesday, November 9
The Ministry of Education has announced students of private and public schools should return to classes on Wednesday, November 9, after a three-day Eid Al Adha holiday only.
Dubai schools should wait for official notification before informing students and parents of holidays. However, many education facilities prepare their academic calendars at least six months in advance. Especially, the Dubai based private schools generously alter academic calendars in favor of convenient holiday breaks.
For example, Repton school’s academic calendar is always shorter then the norm of 180 dyas, established by the Ministry of Education. Moreover, public holidays are conveniently rounded to a week-long breaks. The principals are sending emails to parents informing them about their sole decisions to extend the public holiday by two days for convenience.
However, parents pay tuition, transport and lunch fees on term basis. For the school, extending public holidays means pocketing tuition, lunch and transportation fees in exchange of providing longer holidays. At schools like Repton, extending the public holiday costs parents from 1,000 to 2,000 dirhams and it is charged to them without their previous consent.
For students, two complete days of studies are also important and can affect their academic performance. Taking long breaks from school in the middle of a term ruins their discipline, spoils their daily routines and established habits.
Now, with the Ministry of Education becoming stricter in regard to public holidays, teachers who had already made holiday plans are surely unhappy with their vacations cut short, but they should follow the rules as they have come to UAE to educate children, before all.
