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Dubai school timing changes must put student wellbeing first, says KHDA
KHDA Director General says authority does not want to impose a single timing across emirate's diverse school sector
- PUBLISHED: Thu 1 Oct 2026, 12:33 PM
For parents rushing through Dubai traffic to get their children to school on time, the length of the daily commute can be as important as the school’s start time.
The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) says schools can seek changes to their timings, but any adjustment must be approved by the regulator and should take students’ wellbeing into account.
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Speaking during the Media Majlis on Thursday, KHDA Director General Aisha Miran said the authority did not want to impose a single timing across Dubai’s diverse school sector, given differences in curricula and extracurricular activities.
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“Any changes to school timings must be approved by KHDA. We don’t want to dictate a specific timing because different curricula have different needs, and schools also have different needs for ECAs. What we say is, when you want to change school timings, make sure that you are taking into account student wellbeing.”
Dubai schools and the commute challenge
For families, however, the school day does not begin when a child walks into the classroom. Long journeys, early departures and time spent in traffic can add significantly to the overall burden of the school routine.
Miran said the longer-term solution to commute times would need to go beyond changing school hours and be linked to how Dubai’s neighbourhoods and communities are planned.
She pointed to the Dubai Education Masterplan as a way of bringing schools closer to where children live, with the aim of making active and safer modes of travel more practical.
“But when we talk about commute time, that is where our Dubai Education Masterplan (E33) will hopefully solve the issue. We would love to see our kids going to school walking, biking or on a safe scooter rather than these electric scooters.”
Schools to retain flexibility on timings
Miran said families who rely on private cars or school buses should also be able to expect reasonable journey times, rather than having school timings viewed as the sole answer to congestion.
“Those who wish to take a private vehicle or bus should have an acceptable commute time. That’s ultimately our intention. Dubai’s urban plan has a target of 20 minutes, so everything should ideally be accessible within that 20-minute timeframe.”
