Dubai schools can change their start and finish times to ease traffic congestion, but must first obtain approval from the education regulator.
They must show that any changes support the well-being of pupils and are backed by parents, said the Knowledge and Human Development Authority.
Director general Aisha Miran said schools could seek flexibility and did not need to follow a single timetable imposed across the emirate.
“Any changes to school timings must be approved by KHDA,” she said at a Media Majlis in Dubai on Thursday. “We don’t want to dictate a specific timing because different curricula have different needs, and schools also have different needs for ECAs [extracurricular activities].
“What we say is, when you want to change school timings, make sure that you are taking into account student well-being.”
Some Dubai schools have introduced staggered start times, with the aim of spreading traffic around the school run. Ms Miran said schools should also consider parents’ feedback before changing their schedules.
She said adjustments to school hours could help with daily journeys, but that it would not solve the emirate’s wider commuting challenge by itself. Longer-term improvements would depend on how communities are planned and where schools are located.
Education master plan
The Dubai Education Masterplan, known as E33, is intended to bring schools closer to where children live, making it easier for them to walk, bike or ride a scooter to class, she said.
“We would love to see our kids going to school walking, biking or on a safe scooter rather than these electric scooters,” Ms Miran said.
For families who continue to travel by car or school bus, the aim should be to keep journey times reasonable, she added.
“Those who wish to take a private vehicle or bus should have an acceptable commute time. That’s our intention.”
Dubai’s urban plan sets a target for destinations to be accessible within 20 minutes, Ms Miran said. School journeys should be considered part of that broader ambition, she added.
Ms Miran gave the example of an area where families may want a UK curriculum school within a particular fee range. She said the aim would be to provide that option closer to the community rather than to require pupils to travel for 45 minutes or an hour.
Her comments came as the number of pupils attending Dubai private schools reached about 406,500, up 4.6 per cent since June.
