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UAE weekend change and Shorter Working Week: How it affects schools, parents and students – and how they are adapting
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UAE weekend change and Shorter Working Week: How it affects schools, parents and students – and how they are adapting

by Tabitha BardaDecember 9, 2021

From 1 January 2022 all private schools in Dubai will start the week on Mondays and end the week no later than 12pm on Fridays, according to a circular released by Dubai’s education regulator, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA).

It's official. The KHDA, Dubai's regulators of schools, has confirmed that all schools in the emirate will move to the new 4.5 day week - the first permanent reduction to the 5 day working week in the world

The move comes after the UAE government announced its ground-breaking, landmark decision to transition to a four-and-a half-day working week that aligns more closely with work-week calendars around the world, with Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday forming the new weekend. All Federal government departments will move to the new weekend from January 1.

Although both the Abu Dhabi education regulator ADEK and the KHDA had said they would follow the government’s guidelines, it has now been made official that the final day of the working week – now a Friday for Dubai schools – will be a half day finishing no later than 12pm.

As a result schools are rushing to rearrange lesson and school-bus timetables and planned events in order to fit in with the new working week and adapt to the reduced number of hours.

Mark Leppard MBE, Headmaster of The British School Al Khubairat, told us:

“For the past 15 years I have been a big advocate for a 4 and 1/2 day week for schools and all other sectors.

It is difficult to implement due to child care arrangements unless it is a country wide decision which this is, so I am very keen to progress with this.

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Rather than the angle of economic competitiveness, I believe it is a huge benefit to wellbeing and energy levels for everyone.

Although for many it is a surprise, I think it shows superb visionary leadership and will be copied by other Nations in the coming years.

The benefits additionally to the economic competitiveness are that families will have more time together with genuine space to switch off and enjoy each others company. From an educational perspective, quality family time is a huge factor in a child’s development, which in turn supports their educational journey. I think people will be energised and more productive, both teachers and students.

It is definitely a case of quality over quantity, which is often a discussion that causes a challenge. More does not always equate to better.”

Fortunately for The British School Al Khubairat, there is minimal impact initially and it will give the school a unique opportunity to engage further with students, parents and staff as we trial certain ways of running this model before we finalise how it will work in the new 2022-23 academic year. However, I know that all schools operate slightly differently so I imagine it maybe more challenging for some based on their own curriculum model.

I do not see a change in weekend as a challenge. I have been in the Gulf now for 26 years and remember the switch from a Thursday/Friday weekend to the current Friday/Saturday weekend and that was done pretty much over a weekend.

I really do think we will reap the rewards of this in the coming months and years.”

Michael Lambert, Headmaster of Dubai College told SchoolsCompared.com, before the KHDA circular had been released:

“I can foresee certain logistical challenges in so far as GCSE and A Levels have a certain number of recommended guided learning hours.

Squeezing in the requisite number of guided learning hours for 10 GCSEs, in addition to a day’s worth of Arabic, Islamic, UAE Social Studies and Moral Education each week, plus some sport (also crucial for wellbeing) and our extra-curricular programme (which our children love), and a lunch break each day may prove a challenge.

It would be great if private schools could shift to the Monday – Friday working in January but maintain their current working hours and timetables until the new academic year in September.

This would give private schools longer to implement the change to school hours in a meaningful way.”

There will also be logistical challenges, said Ben Rothwell, Deputy Headteacher at Victory Heights Primary School:

“Invariably Friday at 12pm is going to be the challenge for us all. We are operating in a world of social distancing that means, for most schools at least, it is necessary to stagger drop off and collection. For the first few weeks at least, this may provide operation hurdles for schools to overcome, but I am sure we will all manage to.

There is also the adaptation of timetables that will be necessitated by this move. In Primary, this will be challenging but I foresee it being far more challenging to my Secondary colleagues and I sympathize with them.”

The news has prompted some concern regarding childcare arrangements from UAE parents, most of whom are still waiting to hear their own company’s policies with regard to the new working week.

The authorities have announced that the private sector is not obliged to follow the lead of the government sector – although they are urging private companies to do so.

“My company has not yet announced whether we will be changing working weekdays, but because I work at a Middle-East-based company – not an international one – I am not sure whether they will want to change our working weeks or not,” said John Selby, a father of three children, who works in DIFC. “If they don’t then what will I do with my children on a Sunday, when I have to be at work but my kids won’t have school to go to?”

School Principals and nursery heads across the emirates have been sending out communications to parents to reassure and update them about the rapidly changing situation.

“We will be working hard during the winter break to ensure that our school opens on Monday 3 January 2022 with the new arrangements in place, in readiness for the start of term 2,” stated the communication from Horizon English School Principal Ian Wallace.

For nurseries, which often facilitate flexible attendance days for children, the logistics will be even more complicated. “Please be aware that to begin with your current days will automatically shift to align with the new working week. So if your current days are Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, they will become Monday Wednesday and Friday. We understand that this might present some issues for individual cases,” wrote the Home Grown Children’s Eco Nursery team in a letter to parents.

The fact that the changes have been announced just before the Winter Break  and are set to come into force at the beginning of next year, has meant a bit of a scramble for education providers to adapt. “The nursery will be closing over the holiday period and we will have limited access to emails and will only be able to look into any adjustments once term starts,” added the Home Grown team.

A pioneer of radical and progressive policy

The UAE has become the first country to adopts a working week that is less than the global five-day week, showing the country to be a pioneer of genuinely radical and progressive policy.

The authorities said that the decision to have a 4.5 day working week has been made following comprehensive benchmarking and feasibility studies reflecting the potential impacts of the move on the economy, social and family ties and the overall wellbeing of the people in the UAE.

The move is expected to boost not only trading opportunities for being better aligned with working weeks in global markets, but also to add to the flexible, secure and enjoyable lifestyle the UAE offers to its citizens and residents.

Despite any short-term logistical challenges, UAE school leaders have welcomed the move wholeheartedly.

“I do believe this is an incredibly brave move by the government of the UAE, and one that is clearly indicative of a forward-thinking nation,” Victory Heights Primary School Deputy Headteacher Ben Rothwell told SchoolsCompared.com.

“That it comes on the 50th anniversary of the nation is apt – so much of the UAE’s success can be attributed to the brave and forward-thinking leadership of its founding fathers and leaders who followed. The UAE is a global melting pot of cultures and it will be interesting to see how organisational culture will adapt.”

Michael Lambert, Headmaster of Dubai College is also very supportive of the government’s plan:

“In principle I think the move to a four-and-a-half-day week sounds like a lovely idea, as does the alignment with the Friday/Saturday followed by a large proportion of the rest of the world. I am no expert so I cannot comment on whether this will boost productivity, but I can imagine it will make Dubai and the UAE an even more attractive place to work if the private sector follows suit.

In terms of education, there are certain advantages to students in that they will be able to spend more time pursuing extra-curricular activities beyond school if these can be scheduled during the long weekends.”

For Kathryn Dyche Nicols, Principal of Emirates International School (EIS) in the Meadows, it is also a wholly positive move:

“Social wellbeing is a core aspect of what we do at EIS. We fully understand that a happy community will improve outcomes for all and so welcome this government initiative and will fully comply with any requirements.”

Meanwhile Principal of Emirates International School Jumeirah, Robert Ellis, does not foresee significant issues with the changes:

“One of the things we have learnt over the past couple of years is how flexible the IB Curriculum is and how adaptive our staff and students are.  I don’t foresee any challenges, but I am confident that if one does come along, our school will cope magnificently.”

Ben Rothwell, Deputy Headteacher at Victory Heights Primary School, sums it up:

“There will invariably be opposing views on this move. Whilst it is not yet clear exactly how the private sector will align with the public sector, I would expect most companies to fall in to line. This then provides both economic benefits and workload benefits to society at large.

Parkinson’s Law teaches us that work expands to fill the time available to complete it in, so I suspect for the vast majority of us, added rest and recuperation at the weekend will allow us to arrive fresher at work every week.”

© SchoolsCompared.com. 2021. All rights reserved.

About The Author
Tabitha Barda
Tabitha Barda is the Senior Editor of SchoolsCompared.com. Oxbridge educated and an award winning journalist in the UAE for more than a decade, Tabitha is one of the region's shining lights in all that is education in the emirates. A mum herself, she is passionate about helping parents - and finding the stories in education that deserve telling. She is responsible for the busy 24x7 News Desk, our Advisory Boards and Specialist Panels - and Parents United's WHICHPlaydates - a regular meeting place for UAE parents to discuss the issues that matter to them, make friends and network with others. You can often find Tabitha too on Parents United - our Facebook community board, discussing the latest schools and education issues with our parent community in the UAE - and beyond.

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