Parents in Dubai have supported the plan for schools to end all distance learning in October.
They said it was important for children to return to school as they were missing interaction with classmates and teachers, which was affecting their social skills.
But a few families in the emirate told The National they had questions about how schools would manage a safe return for pupils in October.
All pupils at Dubai's private schools must return to classrooms on October 3, the Dubai Government Media Office announced this week.
Maddy Apostol, 36, a home maker, said she would ensure her nine-year-old daughter was vaccinated before returning to in-person learning.
“I am happy that all children have been allowed to go to school for face-to-face learning but I am worried," Ms Apostol said.
“Last year, I knew most of the parents had chosen distance learning. With 100 per cent pupils back, we are getting our daughter vaccinated tomorrow."
Ms Apostol expects her daughter to receive the Sinopharm vaccine.
A third-year pupil at a private school, the child studied remotely last year but will go back to in-person classes on Sunday.
“I feel confident sending her back to school now as so many people in the country are vaccinated including all the staff at the school” Ms Apostol said.
She was concerned because she did not yet know how many pupils would be in her daughter's class.
School vehicles can run at full capacity, as long as they are ventilated and cleaned after journeys, according to the new protocols.
Last year, capacity for school buses was capped at 50 per cent.
Ms Apostol said she was considering transport alternatives for her daughter.
She said she was being cautious as her daughter had been infected with the coronavirus in March.
Despite this, she said was happy to send her daughter back to in-person classes.
Ms Apostol said her child would go to school for three days a week and then study from home on the other two during the first five weeks of the new term.
“I see the impact of having no interaction with peers on my child," she said.
“There was no social connection and her behaviour changed especially when it came to talking to people.
“Being at home most of the time in front of a screen, she would rather use her iPad or play games than talk to people.”
Health authorities said 96 per cent of Dubai's private schoolteachers had been vaccinated, and 70 per cent of children aged 12 to 17 received coronavirus shots.
Nisha Kumar, an Indian psychiatrist and mother of one in Dubai, said on-site learning was important for children.
Her five-year-old son, who goes to Deira International School, returned to in-person classes last year.
“Being around grown-ups is not enough. My son needs to be around and play with someone his age so that they can explore things together," Ms Kumar said.
“I can be his mother and his teacher but I don’t have the professional qualification to be one. I can only teach him what the teacher tells me to.
“I thought his handwriting was not OK but the teacher said he was doing a great job. Even if I correct him, I may do it the wrong way."
At the end of last term, just 52 per cent of private school pupils in Dubai were in classrooms, and the rest opted to study from home.
The mother said children should be in schools.
“If I am taking him to the mall and the play areas, so why not school?”
“This [the pandemic] is not going to go away in the next year or so."
While taking precautions, she encouraged parents to send their children to school.
Ola Uwaezu, 32, a home maker and mother of two girls aged 4 and 6, said she supported the plan to get all pupils back to school.
“I am for it 100 per cent. My daughters were attending classes in person last year," Ms Uwaezu said.
It was important for pupils to meet their friends, she said.
"I was apprehensive initially but the schools followed all the protocols," Ms Uwaezu said.
"My younger daughter was in nursery, where protocols were very stringent."
She said her children were placed in bubbles at school and there was no mixing, so she felt they were safe.
"I would not get my children vaccinated at this age," she said.
She has been trying to ensure her children do not develop social anxiety by taking them out for walks and having conversations with them about the virus.
Heads of schools welcomed the plan to begin in-person classes in October.
Simon Crane, the headmaster at Brighton College Dubai, said even innovative online learning could not replicate human-to-human connection.
"When you have a screen and technology there are natural barriers to learning," he said.
"Yes you might be able to teach some academics, but the social and emotional development of pupils, you can only really achieve that by having human connection."
Shiny Davison, academic director at Gulf Model School, said some parents were concerned about a full return.
For the first five weeks of the term, the school will follow a blended learning model.
"All pupils will come back in October and we know this has to happen. There is reluctance from some parents. I cannot deny that," she said.
"We are already getting phone calls and emails from parents.
"There are some parents who visited the school to talk to us about this."
"We are trying to explain to them that there is a sanitisation programme at the school, and teachers have been vaccinated.
"I think we can resolve these issues and come back to a full opening of schools."
Champions League Last 16
Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) v Bayern Munich (GER)
Sporting Lisbon (POR) v Manchester City (ENG)
Benfica (POR) v Ajax (NED)
Chelsea (ENG) v Lille (FRA)
Atletico Madrid (ESP) v Manchester United (ENG)
Villarreal (ESP) v Juventus (ITA)
Inter Milan (ITA) v Liverpool (ENG)
Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid (ESP)
MATCH INFO
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Expert advice
“Join in with a group like Cycle Safe Dubai or TrainYAS, where you’ll meet like-minded people and always have support on hand.”
Stewart Howison, co-founder of Cycle Safe Dubai and owner of Revolution Cycles
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Cornelia Gloor, head of RAK Hospital’s Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Centre
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can ride as fast or as far during the summer as you do in cooler weather. The heat will make you expend more energy to maintain a speed that might normally be comfortable, so pace yourself when riding during the hotter parts of the day.”
Chandrashekar Nandi, physiotherapist at Burjeel Hospital in Dubai
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Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
The UAE squad for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
The jiu-jitsu men’s team: Faisal Al Ketbi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Yahia Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Obaid Al Nuaimi, Omar Al Fadhli, Zayed Al Mansoori, Saeed Al Mazroui, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Qubaisi, Salem Al Suwaidi, Khalfan Belhol, Saood Al Hammadi.
Women’s team: Mouza Al Shamsi, Wadeema Al Yafei, Reem Al Hashmi, Mahra Al Hanaei, Bashayer Al Matrooshi, Hessa Thani, Salwa Al Ali.
MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Who: Marseille v Atletico Madrid
Where: Parc OL, Lyon, France
When: Wednesday, 10.45pm kick off (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
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.”
Sri Lanka's T20I squad
Thisara Perera (captain), Dilshan Munaweera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Udawatte, Dasun Shanaka, Sachith Pathirana, Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Gamage, Seekkuge Prasanna, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay and Chathuranga de Silva.
