5 days ago
New dates, minor tweaks: How UAE schools will apply MoE directives on unified calendar
Some schools in the UAE are making 'minor adjustments' while others are changing dates around to ensure that they are meeting new directives by the Ministry of Education (MoE) to unify term dates across private and public schools across the country. Many parents are holding off on planning vacations and booking tickets for now.
'We will only need to make minor adjustments to our existing school calendar to align with the Ministry of Education's new calendar,' said Lisa Johnson, Principal of American Academy for Girls. 'Since our current structure is already very close to the Ministry's model, the start and end dates of terms as well as holiday breaks will see only small shifts. These changes will be integrated smoothly, and we expect the alignment to create even greater consistency across schools in the UAE- something that will benefit both our families and our staff.'
It was last month that MoE announced a new structure for the academic calendar starting from 2025–2026. It set unified dates for the start of the academic year, end of the three terms and end of term breaks for all public and private schools nationwide.
Tweaked dates
At GEMS Founders School, there will be slight changes to the dates of this academic year. 'Due to the alignment with the already existing expectations of 182 calendar days for learning, there has been no impact on curriculum delivery,' said Matthew Burfield, Principal of the school. 'We have tweaked the curriculum plans to ensure they work around the new dates, but this has been minor in terms of implementation.'
He said that there was 'no impact' on activities, assessments, or exam schedules, but a 'slight adjustment' was made to the assessment schedule in the second term to match the new winter break times. 'We communicated to all parents shortly after the announcement to make sure they were fully aware of the changes,' he said. 'This was simply to ensure that any plans families had been making could be changed.'
Nargish Khambatta, the Principal and CEO of GEMS Modern Academy, said that the changes will have a greater impact on Indian syllabus schools, but it is an 'opportunity' for the students. 'For our Indian curriculum CBSE schools, the transition will involve recalibrating our term structure, assessment schedules and reporting timelines to match UAE-designated breaks and exam windows,' she said. 'We are confident that with careful planning and timely stakeholder communication, this shift can be implemented smoothly, with minimal disruption to learning and without compromising academic outcomes.'
Lisa said that her school had also made small changes. 'A few small tweaks will be made to the event and assessment schedule, but no major changes will be required,' she said. 'Internal assessments, AP preparation, and major exams will still take place as planned. Excursions, performances, and extracurricular activities will also proceed with only minor date adjustments.'
Holding off plans
Bushra Ahmed, a parent with children in a Dubai school, said she and her family were holding off on making any plans in light of the new directive. 'We usually book our holidays and tickets well in advance based on the academic calendar,' she said. 'However, this year we got an email from the school that they are still working on the final calendar. So we are still waiting for the final confirmation.'
Lisa added that the updated calendar would be shared with parents as soon as they receive official approval from KHDA. 'The parents to whom I have spoken seem pleased about the extended winter break, which will give families more opportunities to travel and enjoy Dubai's best weather together,' she said. 'We believe the response will be overwhelmingly positive, as the changes will help families align their schedules.'
Matthew said that his school will build in 'further reinforcement work' with students after the longer winter break to make sure prior learning is developed. 'This will allow a more seamless transition for the students between the terms so that learning can continue,' he said.
