Dubai pupils' holiday announcement prank called 'fake news' by KHDA

Similar to a previous prank in February, a tweet was circulated claiming that schools would be shut on Monday following Sunday's heavy rain

In a picture thought to have been made by mischievous school pupils, a bogus 'rain day' was called at Dubai schools. Courtesy KHDA

A picture circulated on social media that appeared to show Dubai's education authority had announced Monday to be a day off for schools has been pronounced as fake.

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority, or KHDA, which governs private schools in the emirate, took to Twitter on Sunday to highlight the picture, which appeared to be a screengrab of a tweet, branding it as “fake news”.

In reference to the heavy rain that day, the fabricated tweet said: “In order to provide safety for your children, the Ministry of Education has decided to give a holiday on Monday, 18/03/19,” following it with the Year of Tolerance hashtag.

The KHDA posted the picture, along with a message that read: “Honestly you guys – when did you ever know our rain tweets to be so boring? Now go to sleep — you’ve got school tomorrow.”

The stunt was thought to be a prank by school pupils and they continued the comedy in their replies.

“I’m gonna lie to my parents and show them the “fake news” pic and I’ll colour the red white,” tweeted one. The KHDA responded to say it sounded like a “well thought-out plan,” followed by face palm emojjis.

“But do we really have school tomorrow?” wrote another child.

“Really really,” replied the KHDA.

In February, school pupils in Dubai doctored an official announcement in an attempt to fool parents into thinking they had the whole week off in a similar prank.

The doctored picture read: “Following the announcement from the UAE Ministry of Education about all private schools in Dubai being closed on Tuesday Feb 5 there has been a following update for all private schools having the whole week off. Enjoy!”

It is also not the first time the person in charge of the KHDA Twitter account has had fun clarifying official arrangements. In November, during a particularly heavy downpour, they released a statement saying: “There are no submarines, but the school bus should be right at your doorstep tomorrow morning, unless your school tells you otherwise.”