UAE sets four-day phased return for students as new school year begins

Dubai: Students in the UAE will return to school in stages over four days under a Ministry of Education plan designed to ease pupils into the 2026-27 academic year before all students resume attendance on Friday, September 4.

The phased return will run from Monday, August 31, to Thursday, September 3, with individual schools deciding which year groups attend on each day. Students scheduled to attend during that period will follow reduced school hours.

All students will then return on Friday, September 4, under the regular Friday timetable, according to the framework issued by the ministry’s School Operations Sector.

The plan gives principals flexibility to rearrange the sequence of year groups or increase the number of days students attend during the phased period, depending on each school’s readiness and needs. Schools must co-ordinate any changes with transport providers to avoid conflicts involving shared bus routes.

The ministry said the framework was designed to provide an organised and safe start to the academic year while maintaining continuity in teaching and preparing schools for the return of their full student populations.

The plan covers pupils from KG1 and KG2 through Cycle 1, Cycle 2 and Cycle 3, including Grade 12.

Schools have also been instructed to form five teams to manage the return: school management; activities and events; parent communication; reception and support; and security and safety.

Their responsibilities begin before pupils arrive and continue through the opening days and beyond, covering school facilities, safety preparations, transport arrangements, communication with families and activities to welcome students.

The activities team, for example, must prepare event areas and school facilities, including signs, safety equipment, classroom identification and building plans showing where activities will take place.

The parent communication team will send students and families positive messages about returning to school, alongside guidance intended to support a safe and orderly start.

Security and safety teams must ensure approved procedures are in place, work with bus-route supervisors to confirm transport information and verify that student lists for each school bus are updated and approved.

Reception and support teams will organise staff, students and parents involved in back-to-school activities, prepare designated areas for new pupils and provide an organised space for receiving parents.

The ministry also wants schools to assess the return after it takes place. Schools will measure parents’ satisfaction with the reception campaign, seek feedback from students and submit reports on activities carried out during the opening period.

Kindergarten pupils attending from Monday to Thursday will be in school from 8.15am to 11.30am, a day of three hours and 15 minutes. On Friday, their timetable will run from 8am to 11.30am.

For Cycle 1, schools have two scheduling options. Under the first, pupils attend from 7.15am to 11.15am from Monday to Thursday, with Friday hours from 7.10am to 10.30am.

The second option runs from 8.15am to 12.15pm from Monday to Thursday and from 8am to 11.30am on Friday.

Boys in Cycles 2 and 3 will attend from 7.15am to 12.15pm during the four-day phased return, with Friday hours from 7.10am to 10.25am.

Girls in Cycles 2 and 3 will attend from 8.15am to 1.15pm from Monday to Thursday and from 8am to 11.30am on Friday.

The framework includes two possible models for distributing year groups across the four reduced-hour days. Only the grades assigned to a particular day will attend, while the remaining students stay home until their scheduled return.

By Friday, September 4, the phased system ends and all students return to school.