Public-private school calendar for next three years adopted in UAE

Our Correspondent

With a view to strengthening the national education system, the Ministerial Development Council, under the chairmanship of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, has adopted the public and private school calendar for the next three years.

The decision will establish a clear and detailed timeline of school days and holidays, to achieve integration between schools and families, according to the best international teaching practices, WAM reported.

The decision excludes schools following Asian curriculums such as Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Japanese.

The calendar was drafted after extensive research and was adopted by the Education and Human Resources Council, under the chairmanship of H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The academic year for all public and private schools in the country for 2020-2021 started on August 30, while school year 2021-22 and 2022-23 will start on August 29 and August 28 respectively.

Indian curriculum schools however start the new school year in April, and proceed to Term 2 when school year starts for the national and Western curricula.

The Council obliges all schools to follow the unified school calendar and to take a three-week winter break from December 13 to 31, for the 2020-21 academic year; from December 12 to 30, 2021, for the 2021-22 academic year, and from December 11 to January 1, 2022, for the 2022-2023 academic year.

All schools will take a three-week spring break from March 28 to April 15 for the 2020-2021 academic year; from March 27 to April 14 for the 2021-22 academic year, and from March 26 to April 13 for the 2022-23 academic year.

The number of schools days for schools following the Ministry of Education curriculum will be 188 days in the 2020-21 academic year; 186 days in 2021-22, and 188 days in 2022-23. All schools that do not follow the MoE curriculum must have a minimum of 182 school days.

The summer break for all schools around the country is not to exceed 8.2 weeks.