Abu Dhabi schools told to revise Eid Al Adha holiday dates

Private schools in Abu Dhabi have been told to adjust their calendars to match the official Eid Al Adha holiday dates set by the Government.

A child tries out her luck at ring toss at the Kidsfest at the Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi during Eid Al Adha in Ocotber 2013. Silvia Razgova / The National

Schools that had Tuesday or Sunday listed as holidays for Eid Al Adha were on Monday told to revise calendars to the official dates, Abu Dhabi Education Council said.

Adec “did make it clear that approval for a religious holiday is subject to positioning of the crescent moon”, it said, so a memo was sent to private schools that “explicitly announced that September 22 would be a normal school day”.

Sunday was “a normal school day and we request all private schools to communicate the dates correctly to parents and teachers”.

The announcement forced the British School Al Khubairat, to revise dates in a note to parents.

The school had told parents that the Eid holidays were Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday.

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More: Dubai schools told to abide by official Eid holiday dates

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But headmaster Mark Leppard told them that the official holidays were Wednesday and Thursday only.

“We received this information after we communicated the revised three-day break to you yesterday,” Mr Leppard said.

“Although we would like to give you sufficient notice regarding dates around religious holidays, it is clear that such information will only be available closer to the time of the relevant religious date and after they have been officially announced by the relevant ministry and Adec.”

On Sunday, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, which regulates private schools in Dubai, also told all schools to continue with “business as usual” on Tuesday.

“In line with the Eid Al Adha announcement from the federal authority, schools are only off from September 23 to 26, and schools will resume on September 27,” said Mohammed Darwish of the KHDA.

“KHDA trusts all schools to abide by the guidelines.”

Meanwhile, more than 200 prisoners in Ajman and Sharjah have been granted early release in celebration of Eid.

In Sharjah, 132 convicts were pardoned on the orders of the Ruler, Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi. The inmates, of various nationalities, had served half their terms and demonstrated good conduct, the state news agency Wam reported.

Brig Saif Al Zari, director of Sharjah Police, thanked the Ruler and said he hoped the pardon would encourage inmates to learn from their experiences and return to the community as good citizens.

In Ajman 72 prisoners are to be released under the directives of the Ruler, Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi.

And Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority on Monday announced running times for of buses, trams, water taxis and other RTA services.

In anticipation of the heavy holiday traffic flow, accident assistance company Saaed will increase its patrols on all of the nation’s highways and near several mosques.

Dubai Municipality is also stepping up inspections of food businesses.

Khalid Al Awadhi, director of food control at the municipality, said all sweets shops in the emirate had been subjected to strict controls to ensure they followed health and safety rules, reported Al Ittihad, the Arabic-language sister paper of The National.

* The caption to the picture accompanying this story has been amended. The caption incorrectly identified the people in it. They are not related, but are friends who attended Kidsfest at Zayed Sports City with their families. In addition, the photo was taken at the event in 2013. We apologise for the errors and any inconvenience caused.