It’s official – the UAE’s Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation has instructed the private sector to reduce its workday by two hours daily – and this has historically meant that private schools quickly follow in reducing the school day.
What is less clear is how exactly each school will cut the overall number of hours schools are open.
Historically this has been left to schools, but often it is parents who pick up the pieces, particularly when children are at different schools with different hours. UAE government Ramadan working times for public sector employees will be from 9am to 2.30pm, from Monday to Thursday, and from 9am to 12pm, on Fridays of every week – but schools have to balance the complexities of timetables and needs of families, so it is rare for school hours to map public sector timings uniformly.
In Dubai, the general historical approach of the KHDA has been to allow schools to choose their own start and end times – as long as the overall school day reduced by at least two hours. In Sharjah all schools had to open for at least three hours – but for a maximum of five each day. We do not believe that Sharjah’s new 4 day week will mean any lessening of the minimum 2 hour shortening of each school day.
As its stands, we expect Ramadan to begin on 2nd April 2022, but as the date is contingent on Moon sightings, the exact start date remains subject to debate, hope, trepidation, conjecture – and no small amount of excitement.
Read more about the Moon Sightings and their impact on holidays this year here.
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