Dubai: Primary students coming from abroad to study in the UAE might have to repeat a year if they don’t meet the country’s age requirement.
This is applicable to students who go to KG 1, KG2 or grade one as they might repeat the school year if they do not meet the UAE’s federal law age requirement.
Students who want to enrol in higher grades (grade 2 and above), however, can be transferred to the next grade if they have completed the previous grade successfully and have passed the assessment test on entering the school.
Last year, education authorities announced that children below the age of three years and eight months can no longer be admitted to KG1.
This rule readjusts the minimum age of admission, which was earlier set at three years, for KG 1.
The Ministry of Education said that the new law requires KG1 students to be three years and eight months old when they are enrolled so that by the end of the year (December 31) they would have completed four.
KG2 students must complete five years of by the end of the year while grade 1 students must complete six years by the end of the year.
This age requirement was first introduced in February as part of the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s (Adec) Organising Regulations for Private Schools. It was then enforced by the Ministry of Education and the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) to include all schools in the country later in the year.
While parents in the UAE are aware [of the regulation] and so have abided by the rules, parents planning on transferring their children from schools abroad to UAE schools should also be aware that their children will have to repeat the school year if they don’t meet the age requirement.
KHDA confirmed to Gulf News that students who have completed KG 1, KG 2 or grade 1 abroad must repeat the year if they then choose to study in the UAE and they are under age.
The KHDA said, however, that students coming from abroad, who are in higher grades (grade two and above) can be transferred to the next grade provided they have completed the previous grade successfully and pass an assessment test on entering the school.
The Ministry of Education said on September 8 that parents who want to apply for an exception should do so before the end of this month. The ministry will give priority to those who meet the age requirement, and next to those who are close to the age requirement whose registration will be based on available seats.
Clive Pierrepont, Director of Communications at Taaleem, which has more than 8,000 students enrolled in its 11 schools, confirmed that a transfer KG1 to grade 1 student who does not meet the country’s age requirement will be placed in the correct age group as per the country’s law.
“Students who come to the UAE are placed in an age appropriate grade/year to ensure that they develop socially, emotionally and academically,” Pierrepont said.
He explained that students who go to the equivalent of KG1, KG2 and Grade 1 are at an age where a difference of even a few months between students is sometimes very evident, especially between boys and girls
“In a class of four- to five-year-olds, one student could be at a level where they are still struggling to socialise and communicate, while another might already have started reading and writing with confidence,” he said.
However, he warned that it is vital that children, no matter how bright parents think they are, are placed in an age-appropriate group and allow the teachers to make allowance for their different ability in the classroom.
