One-week Eid holiday confirmed for Dubai private schools

Dubai's private school pupils and university students will have a week-long break for the Eid Al Fitr holiday.

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority, the emirate's private education regulator, confirmed on Monday that all private schools, universities and nurseries would be closed from Monday, April 8, until Sunday, April 14, to celebrate the holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan.

The decision was confirmed shortly after authorities announced the Eid holiday for the private sector.

Private sector employees will enjoy either four or five days of paid leave, depending on when Eid begins.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation on Monday said employees would be off from the 29th day of Ramadan, which falls on Monday, April 8, until the third day of Shawwal, the 10th month of the Islamic calendar.

The first day of Shawwal heralds the beginning of Eid Al Fitr.

If Ramadan lasts 29 days, the third day of Shawwal will be on Thursday, giving employees a four-day break. In this instance, work will resume on Friday, April 12.

If Ramadan is observed for 30 days, as has been forecast, the Eid holiday will run until Friday, April 12. Work would then resume on Monday, April 15.

The UAE Cabinet on Sunday announced that federal government staff would be granted paid leave from Monday, April 8, until Sunday, April 14. Work will resume on Monday, April 15.

Extended school holiday

Pupils at many private schools in the UAE began a three-week holiday last week, as the institutions chose to merge the Eid Al Fitr and spring breaks.

At most schools, spring break began on March 25 and will end on April 5, with the Eid holiday following immediately on April 8.

Parents previously told The National of their plans to book overseas trips to make the most of the expected long holiday.

Trisha Daya, a South African resident in Dubai, plans to enjoy a 10-day holiday in Thailand and Singapore with her husband and daughters, aged six and nine.

“I think it's just to give [children] a bit of a break. The weather should be good as well,” Ms Daya told The National.

“When it's anything that involves six or seven hours of travel, you know that you're going to need a couple of days to recover from jet lag so it's good to be able to just take two weeks or 10 days to fully enjoy the holiday. We are definitely happy that we have a longer break.”

Eid celebrations in the UAE - in pictures

Fireworks light up the sky during Eid Al Fitr celebrations at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National

The fireworks display at Yas Island. Victor Besa / The National

Fireworks over Yas Island. Victor Besa / The National

Fireworks in the night sky over Yas Island. Victor Besa / The National

Fireworks go off to celebrate Eid at Global Village, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Fireworks in the night sky at Global Village. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Part of the fireworks display at Global Village. Chris Whiteoak / The National

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Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others

Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.

As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.

Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.

“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”

Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.

“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”

Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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