Abu Dhabi to reopen private schools with safety measures

Our Correspondent
The Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) has issued guidelines to reopen private schools with safety measures in the new academic year, WAM reported.
ADEK has worked extensively over the last few months with schools, parent representatives, teachers and the relevant authorities to make these policies as comprehensive as possible. The policies are framed around four main dimensions: safe operations, teaching and learning, staff and student well-being, and community support.
Safe Operations lays out procedures aimed at ensuring safety in every aspect of a school’s operations.
Teaching and Learning instructs schools on how to adopt social distancing processes and other safety measures without jeopardising the academic mission. Three basic preventive measures are outlined, including social distancing, where schools are requested to organise time and space to minimise interactions between people; protective equipment, where schools are requested to install appropriate equipment, screens, partitions and other protective measures; and maintaining the highest hygiene standards, with schools requested to regularly disinfect and clean all areas.
The Staff and Student Wellbeing dimension outlines procedures aimed at ensuring that schools are fully prepared to assist with student and teacher health and wellbeing. Community Support encourages schools to provide assistance to students in need, such as fee discounts, payment deferrals and splitting term fees into monthly instalments, among others.
ADEK received responses from 63 per cent of Abu Dhabi private school parents on the survey it launched covering a range of topics from opinions and considerations on schools reopening to preferences on duration and format of school days and transportation for the upcoming term.
The survey findings will be used in conjunction with the comprehensive guidelines to help 201 education entities under the ADEK umbrella shape their individual plans for the new academic year.
ADEK has requested schools to announce their reopening models by July 30 to enable parents to take an informed decision about where they wish to enrol their children for the new academic year.
The authority has also issued a Parents’ Guide, which provides a full understanding of the reopening guidelines allowing parents to be more informed about the health, safety and wellbeing of their children and the important part they play in the process.