Many UAE private schools have decided to go ahead with International Baccalaureate and GCSE exams which will be held in-person on their campuses on Thursday, despite an extreme weather forecast.
The Emirates has called for remote work and distance learning to be introduced on Thursday and Friday as the country prepares for heavy rain and thunderstorms.
While some schools have applied to postpone exams, many have decided to go ahead with emergency measures such as enlisting extra invigilators and arranging additional transport options.
We hope our students and invigilators face minimum disruption and limited travel time
Fatima Martin,
principal at Gems New Millennium School
Richard Drew, chairman of the IB Association of UAE schools and principal at Jumeira Baccalaureate School, said the majority of schools offering the IB diploma programme had decided to go ahead with exams this week.
He said GCSE exams had not started at his school and oral language exams scheduled this week would be postponed to next week.
More than 50 pupils will sit for their Maths IB paper on Thursday. The school asked pupils to arrive early on campus.
“Our building is an old one and fared very well [during the rains in April] but where we've had leaks and things like that, we've tried to make sure that our maintenance team have cleared leaves out of gutters, released drains and all of those important things,” said Mr Drew.
“We tend to get floods in the car park so, for tomorrow morning, because we've only got grade 12 pupils coming in and a few members of staff, we're trying to steer clear of the main entrance and use our side entrances.
“We will be in school by 6am to assess the condition of the building, the safety of the building, and the accessibility of the building.”
Better for pupils
Leigh Girven, principal at Greenfield International School Dubai, also confirmed that International Baccalaureate exams would go ahead on their campus on Thursday.
“We feel that is in the best interest of the pupils,” said Ms Girven.
“We plan to have extra invigilators coming in just in case some are not able to make it in.
“In the unfortunate case that some pupils are affected by flooding, we have our deployment co-ordinator who can look at alternative arrangements.
“We will make a final decision about whether the exams go ahead tomorrow morning.”
Fatima Martin, principal at Gems New Millennium School, said both parents and pupils are keen to continue with their exams.
“We have been working very closely with our parents and School Transport Services to organise transport to and from school on both days,” she said.
“We hope our students and invigilators face minimum disruption and limited travel time over the coming days.”
Simon Herbert, head of Gems International School, said: “The Gems Education group, and all our IB schools, have worked closely with the IB Organisation and the KHDA to ensure that our IB DP examinations take place as planned on campus.
“We also have plans to deal with ‘adverse conditions’ and all other eventualities.
“For now, we can reassure our Grade 12s, and their families, that our IB examinations will take place as previously announced.”
Jumeirah English Speaking School sent a note to parents on Wednesday confirming that the International Baccalaureate and GCSE exams would still be held this week.
Contingency plans
Not all schools will be going ahead with the exams on Thursday.
Jane Clewlow, head of senior school at Brighton College Dubai, said they have a GCSE Maths exam on Thursday and an A-Level History paper scheduled on Friday.
The school has applied to the board to have the exam on Thursday postponed until Friday.
“That's what we're hoping for. We've not heard back yet from Cambridge, but we're hoping,” said Ms Clewlow.
She feared staff could “struggle to get in the building” based on Thursday's forecast but is optimistic the stormy weather will have cleared enough by Friday for an exam to go ahead.
Thunderstorms and heavy rainfall in the UAE - in pictures
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The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
Results:
Men's wheelchair 800m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 1.44.79; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 1.45.88; 3. Isaac Towers (GBR) 1.46.46.
Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5
The five pillars of Islam
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Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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.”
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
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At a glance
- 20,000 new jobs for Emiratis over three years
- Dh300 million set aside to train 18,000 jobseekers in new skills
- Managerial jobs in government restricted to Emiratis
- Emiratis to get priority for 160 types of job in private sector
- Portion of VAT revenues will fund more graduate programmes
- 8,000 Emirati graduates to do 6-12 month replacements in public or private sector on a Dh10,000 monthly wage - 40 per cent of which will be paid by government
The Good Liar
Starring: Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen
Directed by: Bill Condon
Three out of five stars
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
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The biog
Name: Marie Byrne
Nationality: Irish
Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption
Book: Seagull by Jonathan Livingston
Life lesson: A person is not old until regret takes the place of their dreams
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
MATCH INFO
Delhi Daredevils 174-4 (20 ovs)
Mumbai Indians 163 (19.3 ovs)
Delhi won the match by 11 runs
