Schools and nurseries across the UAE on Monday are reopening their doors with strict safety rules in place.
School buses will also be in operation, bringing relief for parents after it was initially decided they would not run.
Parents have the flexibility to select in-person or remote learning and schools are taking a phased approach over several days, but the return marks a note of normality since distance learning was introduced more than a month ago because of the Iran war.
Authorities across the UAE have set out strict safety protocols for educational facilities to open over the past few weeks. Some schools and nurseries will reopen classrooms on Monday as part of a staggered return.
“This return has been carefully and collaboratively prepared. For families who are not yet ready, you can continue with distance learning,” Dr Wafi Dawood, chief executive of the strategic development sector at Dubai's education authority, the Knowledge and Development Authority, told The National on Friday.
“For those returning, know that your schools, early childhood centres, and universities have worked hard to be ready to welcome you back safely.”
The safety protocols include establishing safe areas in classrooms and buildings, evacuation routes, no large gatherings in schools and emergency drills for pupils and staff.
Nurseries have asked teachers to prepare grab bags for children.
The Ministry of Education also instructed all schools to give parents the option to decide whether children would return to school or continue with remote learning.
It is a similar story for third-level with public and private universities set to resume in-person learning on Monday.
However, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research said those institutions have “the flexibility to implement hybrid and distance learning models when needed, in accordance with approved regulations”.
Schools switched to remote learning after Iran launched missiles and drone attacks on the UAE on February 28. A ceasefire, first announced by US President Donald Trump on April 7, is set to end on Wednesday unless renewed.
The Ministry of Education on Thursday announced schools would re-open on April 20. As part of the emergency preparedness, schools are also ready to transition from in-person to remote learning.
“I see it as our job as part of the school community to cater for the needs of all,” David Williams, principal of Regent International School in Dubai, previously told The National.
“Families have reacted in different ways to this situation. A majority of our families have stayed but we have to cater for those families that have made that choice to go back to their own countries or work remotely from a different space.”
