UAE schools welcome students back with full readiness for new academic year

Students across the UAE’s public and private schools returned to their classrooms yesterday as the 2026-2027 academic year got underway, marking a fresh start for more than 1.277 million students enrolled in more than 1,180 public and private schools across the country.

The returning students include around 26,700 first-time students, with schools having completed extensive preparations ahead of the start of classes. Welcome programmes combined orientation for the new academic year with educational and interactive activities designed to help students transition smoothly back into school life.

Public schools are adopting a gradual return during the first week. The process begins today with new students, followed by the remaining educational stages according to attendance schedules set by individual schools from Monday to Thursday. Reduced school hours will be implemented during this period, with all students expected to be attending by Friday, paving the way for a full return to the regular school timetable.

The phased return allows schools to welcome students in stages and help them transition from the holiday routine to the structure of the school day, particularly first-time students. It also gives schools an opportunity to familiarise them with the school environment, organise entry and exit procedures, and complete arrangements associated with the beginning of the academic year.

The new academic year follows extensive preparations that included the opening of 11 new schools and educational complexes, the preparation of around 8 million textbooks, and the deployment of 5,810 school buses to transport students.

More than 24,000 education professionals also took part in specialised training programmes, with more than 80 training programmes and workshops organised in preparation for the new academic year.

At schools across the country, the return to classrooms has involved more than simply resuming lessons. The first days have been transformed into an opportunity for orientation, interaction and familiarisation with the themes and priorities that will shape students’ academic journey throughout the year.

At Zayed Educational Complex – Al Mizhar in Dubai, local media representatives were introduced during a field visit to a series of initiatives combining learning, values, technology and awareness.

The return of students followed extensive academic and operational preparations within the school, including the readiness of facilities and classrooms, filling staffing vacancies and establishing early communication with parents. Educational and administrative teams also began work ahead of the students’ return to complete preparations for the new academic year.

Speaking to the media, Bdoor Shaheen Ali, Head of the Academic Affairs Unit at Zayed Educational Complex – Al Mizhar, said the complex had sought to translate the National Charter for Education into an interactive experience that students could live within the school environment, rather than presenting it merely as a set of theoretical concepts.

She explained that the complex’s team designed a wide range of activities distributed across corridors, classrooms and school facilities, incorporating several themes linked to the student experience, including artificial intelligence, national identity and Sanad.

Shaheen noted that preparations for these activities began before students returned, with the administrative and teaching teams using the week preceding the start of classes to prepare corridors and classrooms and organise the school environment.

The aim, she said, was to ensure that students would find a fully prepared environment from the moment they entered the school on their first day—one that would welcome them and encourage them to re-engage with school life.

Bdoor Shaheen  emphasised that communication with parents was a key pillar of the preparations for the new academic year.

The complex began communicating with families before students returned through the school’s official channels and platforms, in addition to organising an orientation meeting between the school administration and parents.

She explained that the meeting and advance communication helped families understand the preparations and arrangements for the academic year while establishing a direct channel between parents and the school from the outset... This was clearly reflected in the atmosphere surrounding students’ first day, she said.

Early preparation across academic, organisational and interactive areas, combined with engagement with families, ultimately aims to provide students with a smooth transition from the holiday period to the school environment and establish a positive relationship from day one among students, teachers, the school and parents—laying the foundation for a stable start to the new academic year.

Amna Hilal, Principal of Zayed Educational Complex – Al Mizhar, told the media that early preparations for the 2026-2027 academic year had contributed to a smooth and stable start for students from the first day.

Preparations included ensuring the readiness of staff, facilities and classrooms, as well as developing an interactive programme to introduce students to the National Charter for Education, reinforce the values of national identity and Sanad, and promote the responsible use of artificial intelligence, alongside establishing early communication channels with parents.

“Preparations for the academic year began before the students returned, with the aim of ensuring the readiness of the complex, its facilities and the services it provides,” Hilal said.

Hilal noted that preparations for the academic year extended beyond operational and academic arrangements, focusing simultaneously on introducing students to the National Charter for Education and its objectives from the very beginning of the year.

At the Values Station, students encounter a “Values Compass” bringing together a range of behaviours expected to become part of their daily school life, foremost among them respect, honesty, responsibility, cooperation, empathy, critical thinking and a sense of belonging.

Beyond displaying these values, the station encourages students to think about how they can put them into practice.

Through cards, activities and real-life scenarios, students explore the behaviours associated with each value, making the concepts more closely connected to their everyday experiences in classrooms and corridors and in their interactions with classmates and teachers.

The station also features activities centred on tolerance and scenarios that encourage students to think about how they should respond and interact with others, transforming values from words displayed on a board into choices and behaviours that can be practised every day.

A few steps away, holders of the “Future Passport” move to the Reading and Creativity Station, under the slogan “Read… to Create”.

Here, reading is presented as a gateway to thinking and generating ideas, rather than as an activity separate from the student’s other skills.

The station encourages students to devote 20 minutes each day to reading, choose subjects and fields they enjoy, record new ideas and share them with others. It also introduces them to the Arab Reading Challenge and explains how they can participate.

The station links reading with creativity through a journey that begins with “Read”, followed by “Imagine”, “Connect Ideas”, and ultimately “Create”.

The message to students is simple: a book can be a starting point that leads to a new idea, project or innovation.

The Sustainability Station takes students into another dimension of their responsibility under the slogan “My Green Year… I Am an Eco-Friendly Friend”, turning sustainability into a set of simple daily habits that students can practise both at school and at home.

The station offers practical guidance covering water conservation, energy efficiency, reuse, waste sorting and reducing paper consumption, as well as maintaining a clean school environment.

Students are also invited to choose a sustainable habit and pledge to practise it throughout the year, linking environmental knowledge with personal action and individual responsibility.

In an interactive activity, students write their environmental habits or pledges on leaf-shaped cards. Their contributions gradually form a collective green space representing their commitments for the new academic year.

The Artificial Intelligence Station appeared to be the initiative’s strongest expression of its vision of the future, with a robot welcoming students alongside an information area titled “Artificial Intelligence with Awareness and Safety.”

The station provides students with an accessible introduction to artificial intelligence, combining an exploration of the technology’s potential with an emphasis on using it consciously and responsibly.

The objective is to make technology part of the learning journey rather than simply a standalone tool.

The concept of the “Future Corridor” also reflects an approach that goes beyond simply decorating the school for students’ first day. Instead, the corridor itself has been transformed into an extension of the classroom and an additional learning space.

Students at Zayed Educational Complex – Al Mizhar did not begin their journey into the new academic year from their classroom desks. Instead, they started with a small “Future Passport” in their hands, embarking on a journey through a series of stations designed to take them into the future.

The Future Passport served as an entry pass to an interactive experience called the “Future Corridor”, where school corridors were transformed into an open learning space.

Students moved between different stations, each with its own identity, message and activity, in an effort to make the return to school an experience built around discovery and participation.

The visiting students moved between stations dedicated to values, reading and creativity, sustainability, and artificial intelligence, creating an integrated experience that combines character-building, skills, knowledge and technology.