Read more: Here's what teachers in UAE earn compared to in their home countries
From the outside, the life of a teacher might seem like an easy one, filled with short days and long holidays.
The reality is quite different, however, as The National found out when it went back to school for the day.
Year 2 teacher Amy Louise Locker welcomed us into her classroom at Al Mamoura Academy in Abu Dhabi.
Waking up in the dark
With a daily start before sunrise, it takes a certain kind of dedication to be a teacher.
“I try to prepare myself the day before because the mornings are just so busy,” she said, waiting for her class to return from its break.
No two days are the same, that’s a blessing and also a challenge as well
Amy Louise Locker
“I don’t have a family so I just have to worry about getting myself ready.
“I have a little dog and take him for a walk each morning and enjoy the sunrise, that’s usually around 5.30am.”
After breakfast it is time to head to school, a journey that typically takes her about 25 minutes.
“I leave at around 6.30am and sign-in at the school for 7am before the children arrive at 7.30,” said Ms Locker.
“There’s not a lot of time in between before the pupils arrive so I just try to catch up with my teaching assistant and prepare the lessons for the day ahead.”
It takes special management skill to cope with almost 30 six and seven-year-olds, bustling with energy and arriving through the door at the same time.
“The morning is quite often the busiest time of the day because that’s when they want to tell you about what they got up to at home the night before,” she said.
Ms Locker said that there is a focus on getting the children to recognise their emotions, especially when they are heightened.
“There’s also a feelings table where they can tell us if they’re happy, sad or if they are excited.
“There was one time I had a six-year-old pupil complain that his classmate was ‘pushing me into the red zone’.”
The class also gets to vote in the morning for which story they want to hear at the end of the day.
Lessons officially get under way at 8am. The day is broken up into seven lessons on a range of topics including English, science, maths and geography.
Many of the pupils in the class are Emirati, so some of the subjects requiring specialist teachers include Arabic.
The majority of the children in the school are Emirati but there are also pupils from Russia, Pakistan, India, England and Ireland, added Ms Locker.
The first lesson today is about patterns and shapes, and this honorary pupil for the day already feels out of his depth as the six-year-olds reach for their iPads.
While the days are planned out methodically, all that pre-planning can easily go out of the window in an instant, she said.
Every day is different
“Schools are busy places and they are unpredictable,” said the 32-year-old from Staffordshire in the UK.
“You could arrive in the morning and have a day completely planned and it just completely changes, very quickly.
“No two days are the same, that’s a blessing and also a challenge as well.”
She offered an example of a day when all the planning in the world meant little in the end.
“I always think back to the time when we were celebrating World Book Day and I was dressed up as Alice in Wonderland,” she said.
“One of the pupils was dressed in an inflatable dinosaur suit, which started to deflate and this was making her quite upset.
“Then another pupil began vomiting on the floor. This was all within the space of a few minutes.
“It’s often an unpredictable job and you’ve got be able to think on your feet.”
Time management is often an issue for many people across a wide spectrum of industries, but for teachers it seems it is particularly challenging.
“Imagine preparing for a presentation but having to do it seven times a day,” she said.
“Then you’ve still got the matter of your emails and paperwork after that.”
Work goes on when school is out
Her working day does not end when the school bell rings at 2.30pm and the pupils go home.
Far from it, in fact.
“The school offers a broad range of extra-curricular activities, including clubs for coding, drama and writing,” she said.
“It’s not unusual for a teacher to offer their time to help pupils develop skills in areas they are passionate about.”
Ms Locker, who also serves as Year 2 head, often spends time after classes have ended working on forward planning and training with her colleagues.
She will typically find herself asleep by 9.30pm to make sure she’s ready for the next day.
“Here in the UAE it feels like there is no ceiling when it comes to limits on what can be achieved,” said Ms Locker.
“I’m teaching little six-year-olds who tell me they want to be everything from doctors, nurses, astronauts, footballers to medics and researchers.
“To be able to help to inspire a love of learning in them very early on is a pretty cool job.”
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
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