Dubai schools must report students absent for five consecutive days under new rules

Dubai: Private schools in Dubai must notify education authorities when a student misses five consecutive days without a valid reason or accumulates unexplained absences equivalent to 10 per cent of the school days in a term, under new safeguarding regulations.

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has made the reporting requirements mandatory under its Policy Framework for Safeguarding and Learner Protection, linking school attendance monitoring to the early detection of risks affecting students' safety and wellbeing.

Schools must report a student when either threshold is reached, regardless of whether the absences are consecutive or spread across the term.

However, KHDA stressed that schools must act immediately if a student's absence raises concerns about their safety, even if the reporting thresholds have not been reached.

The framework requires educational institutions to establish written attendance policies appropriate to students' ages, learning arrangements and the type of education provided.

Institutions must maintain accurate attendance records, investigate repeated or unexplained absences and identify patterns that could indicate a student needs protection or additional support.

Staff are also required to immediately alert the institution's designated safeguarding lead whenever an attendance concern suggests a student may be at risk.

Schools may introduce lower reporting thresholds for individual students with known vulnerabilities, allowing earlier intervention when their circumstances warrant additional monitoring.

For students under 18, schools must follow up on attendance concerns with parents, guardians or caregivers.

Students aged 18 and over should generally be contacted directly, with their families involved only with their consent or when there is a risk of harm to the student or others.

The policy also requires institutions to document attempts to contact students and their families, together with any protective measures taken. Where contacting a family could increase the risk to a student, the designated safeguarding lead must determine an appropriate alternative.

The five-day and 10 per cent reporting thresholds do not automatically apply to universities or vocational and technical training institutions.

These institutions must establish their own attendance thresholds, taking into account semesters, course modules, credit hours and arrangements for part-time, evening or distance learning.

Early childhood centres must calculate absences according to the days each child is enrolled to attend. For example, a child registered for three days a week would have their attendance assessed against those three days.

Under the framework, all educational institutions must establish clear procedures for responding when a student cannot be accounted for during the school day.

Such incidents require an immediate response, with escalation to safeguarding personnel, school leaders, parents and relevant authorities according to the circumstances.

Institutions must also introduce written procedures for handling missing-student incidents and test their effectiveness during the 12-month implementation period.

The requirements extend to boarding facilities, which must appoint a residential safeguarding lead and deputy from the framework's effective date.

Schools offering boarding must complete arrangements for supervision outside normal school hours, visitor access controls and risk assessments within 12 months.

Existing boarding staff must also complete Level 2 safeguarding training for higher-risk settings within three months.

KHDA stressed that attendance monitoring forms part of a wider safeguarding system designed to identify potential harm early and ensure students receive appropriate protection and support.