Dubai: The summer holidays for most schools in the UAE will start on June 24. Schools reopen for the new academic year on August 28, according to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) and Ministry of Education.
Taaleem’s schools, however, will close on June 30, according to its director of communications, Clive Pierrepont.
The current academic year (2015-2016) for schools that follow the Ministry of Education curriculum in the country will end earlier than last year as Ramadan and the Eid Al Fitr holiday are expected to begin earlier this year.
The last academic year (2014-2015) started on August 31 and ended on June 25.
Ramadan is likely to start on June 6 this year. It started on June 18 last year.
However, some schools in the country following Indian curricula — Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Indian Certificate for Secondary Education (ICSE) — that reopened for their new academic year last Sunday, will end their first term on June 23 and start their second term on August 28.
Ashok Kumar, chief executive of the Indian High School, said that the early start of Ramadan this year will not impact the school’s closing date before the summer holidays.
“There will be no impact since Ramadan is expected to begin by June 6. We have three weeks of classes during Ramadan, after which school closes for the summer break and students get their usual two months of vacation,” he said.
“The opening and closing dates compared to previous academic years are the same. The only difference is that since the dates need to coincide with the weekend, adjustments have been made accordingly,” he added.
A number of schools are expected to open in the UAE in the current year to meet the demand for high quality schools in the country. GEMS Education, for instance, said last February that it will be opening seven new schools this year, including GEMS Heritage Indian School, GEMS United Indian School — Abu Dhabi and GEMS Al Barsha National School for boys, among others. The new schools will provide a variety of curricula.
