Almost 900,000 students to start school on September 8

Dubai: Preparations to welcome almost 900,000 students on the first day of the academic year on September 8 are under way.

The Ministry of Education has announced that it has completed the final touches needed for the 892,000 students from 1,376 private and public schools to start the new academic year at a meeting headed by Ali Al Suwaidi, Acting Undersecretary of the ministry.

Some of the preparations include hiring teachers as Al Suwaidi said that 652 vacancies had been filled.

The ministry has completed distributing books to all public schools and is coordinating with private schools to supply them with books.

Al Suwaidi added that the maintenance of 24 schools located in Dubai, Sharjah and the northern emirates has already been completed while two other schools will start soon. The ministry has also provided schools with 3,200 air-conditioning units.

“Although we have prepared well there is still a chance that we might face an emergency, especially when it comes to students settling into their classes at the beginning of the year or issues related to teacher resignation. We will conduct a survey to make sure that all schools are prepared and to stay on top of any emergencies that might occur.”

Some new schools have already started as of Sunday such as Al Shaheen Cycle One School, Al Tomouh Kindergarten and Cycle 1 School and the Ahmad Bin Zayed Cycle One School in Al Ain.

Mugheer Al Khaili, Director-General at the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec). visited the three new schools in Al Ain on Sunday to congratulate school staff on their first day of school.

Gulf News also spoke to parents to learn more about how they prepared their children for the new academic year.

Mother of three Dalal Al Jameel is all set for the back-to-school season as she prepared early this year.

“I started preparing early so in terms of school essentials and fees I am ready. On the other hand physically and mentally my children and I are not prepared to wake up early every day. It takes time to get back to the routine after a long summer abroad.”

17-year-old Mahmoud Tayseer, who will be attending grade 12, said that it is more of a mental preparation when it comes to going back to school. “I am trying to prepare myself mentally for my senior year. Whenever I feel bad that my summer is ending I think to myself that it is my final year and I am off to university.”