UAE | Education
Parents and teachers welcome decision to extend holidays
Cabinet decision to postpone the academic year for public schools met with strong enthusiasm in UAE.
- By Siham Al Najami, Staff Reporter
- Published: 22:52 July 1, 2009
- Image Credit: Atiq-ur-Rehman/Gulf News
- Teachers, parents and pupils have welcomed the decision to extend holidays.
Dubai: The Cabinet, decision to postpone the coming academic year for public schools until after the Eid holidays was met with strong enthusiasm from pupils, parents and principals.
Overjoyed by the news, Asma Al Darai, a parent and school principal, expressed her gratitude to the wise leadership of the country, saying it would benefit the entire community.
"Ramadan is the month of fasting, and it's a significant part of our culture as UAE nationals. Having a holiday during this month will help us as parents, principals and pupils to concentrate on the values of this month," she said.
She said that as a parent, having the academic year during or after Ramadan will not make a huge difference in her children's performance, but it will give her children more time to spend with their relatives and in worship.
Aisha Obaid, principal of Rafaq Public Elementary School, strongly welcomed the decision, saying going to school during the period would have required a tremendous amount of effort from the administration and teachers since beginning the academic year during Ramadan would have been stressful.
"In the elementary level you will be dealing with great difficulty to help children adjust to a new environment. Further, most children in Grade 3 are learning to fast for the first time. Thus having it during the academic year and in this hot climate would have been challenging," she said.
Umm Hind Al Shamsi, a parent, leaped with joy over the decision, saying it was among the best news she had heard in a very long time.
"I would rather have my children take extra classes during their weekend to make up for the extended vacation, because fasting in the hot weather and staying up late at night worshipping could affect their academic performance," said the mother of five.
Her Grade 12 daughter Hind was ecstatic about the decision, saying: "I was worried about coming back to school during the most sacred last 10 days of Ramadan. It's my last year at school and it will require a lot of hard work& I am so glad of this decision as now I will have the time to focus on my faith."
Mohammad Al Mas, principal of Al Ma'arif Public School for boys, hesitantly welcomed the decision, saying: "During the school period, I like to take advantage of the month of Ramadan to educate the students about the magnificent values of this month and their religion and to strengthen their faith."
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