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Admission age: Indian, Pakistani schools get reprieve

Students who have completed three years and eight months can apply for admissions, if they intend to start school in September.

Indian and Pakistani curriculum schools across the UAE will not be affected this year by the Ministry of Education’s decision to change the school admission age.

A senior official from the ministry confirmed the development on Tuesday, after objections were raised by several schools.

“For this year, schools which start the new academic year in April will be exempted from the new rules,” said Marwan Al Sawaleh, Undersecretary at the ministry.

Earlier, the ministry had instructed schools to allow school admissions for children who had completed four years. The exemption from new rules will only apply to schools starting the new academic year in April.

Khaleej Times had earlier reported how several Indian schools were caught off guard with the rule changes and citing the rule to refuse admission to students.

However, the official noted schools starting their new academic year from August-September onwards would have to follow the new rules. These schools would be allowed to admit students who complete four years at the end of the calendar year (i.e. December 31, 2014).

Students who have completed three years and eight months can apply for admissions, if they intend to start school in September.

The official also disclosed the ministry’s plans to implement a teacher licensing system to streamline the resource of teachers.

“All teachers in the UAE will have to be a part of the unified licensing system and it will be different from the recruitment procedure which is already in place,” said Al Sawaleh.

However, he did not give a specific date on when the new licensing rules would take effect.

“A cabinet committee is working on the finer details of the project and we are in discussions with schools and teachers to ensure the new system would help them.”

Julie Parmar, a parent in Fujairah, expressed her relief with the ministry’s decision as she said: “Many schools were finding it very easy to refuse admissions. They did not even acknowledge requests from parents whose children had completed three-and-a-half years. I will now try going back to the same school and request them for an admission.” -muaz@khaleejtimes.com