Dubai: All private schools to close on June 26 ahead of Eid Al Adha holidays? KHDA clarifies rumours

Dubai’s education regulator has issued a clarification after a news website ran a report suggesting that all schools are to close on June 26. The report had said that schools would close a day before the predicted holidays to mark the Islamic festival Eid Al Adha.

“Not the case,” the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) posted on Twitter in response to the publication’s report. “Parents should refer to their school’s approved academic calendar for details on the end of the academic year. Dates for Eid Al Adha holidays will be announced by the federal government.”

According to astronomical calculations, UAE residents will likely get a six-day break for Eid Al Adha starting from Tuesday, June 27. However, the actual dates are subject to the sighting of the Moon, which determines the start and end of Islamic calendar months.

The aforementioned report suggested that schools would close on Monday — which would give students a nine-day break, followed by the summer holidays. However, as it turns out, this is “not the case”, according to the KHDA.

Schools submit their academic calendars to the KHDA for approval, typically at the start of the year. The minimum number of school days is 182 days.

The authority publishes each private school’s academic calendar on its website. “All private schools can only tentatively communicate public holidays (like Eid, UAE National Day) to parents and confirm them once declared by the UAE government authority,” the authority states.

It refers to the fact that official holidays are announced by the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, Ministry Of Human Resources and Emiratisation and other relevant federal and local authorities based on when the Moon is sighted.

Parents can click on schools’ profiles to check their individual academic calendars.

According to the general academic calendar, for schools that started in September (academic year 2022-23), the year is not to end before June 28, 2023. Their new academic year (2023-24) begins on August 28.

For schools that started the academic year 2023-24 in April, the summer break begins on July 3, with classes resuming on August 28.

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