UAE schools reopen after winter break for new year, new term

January marks the start of the second academic year for UAE Ministry of Education (MoE), UK, US and International Baccalaureate (IB) schools. However, this month marks the start of the final term for Indian and Pakistani curriculum schools, where full preparation will be underway for the end-of-year exams, which are scheduled to begin in February.

According to the school calendar for the 2022-2023 school year announced by the Ministry of Education, most schools have about 91 days this semester, including 67 days of actual study and 24 days of weekly vacation.

This term is also the first in more than two years to return to school without any precautionary measures. Masks were mandatory for many school staff until last term. As a result, schools are scheduling more school-wide and inter-school competitions, especially those taking advantage of the pleasant winter weather sweeping the UAE,

Kelvin Hornsby, Principal and CEO of GEMS World Academy – Abu Dhabi and Senior Vice President of Education at GEMS Education, told Gulf News:

“2023 will be an exciting year for our new Al Reem Island campus. The school continues to grow and we have 50 new students this term alone. The challenges and challenges of ensuring our learners and their families are well prepared “Preparation has been exciting for us. It’s been great to have all the kids back on set today. There was a lot of excitement and laughter first thing in the morning, which is what you want to hear because a lot of people have been three Haven’t seen each other for a week.”

The IB Curriculum School also focuses on the professional development of its educators as it strives to achieve High Performance Learning World Class School accreditation and provides IB training to all teachers. Hornsby said there was also a concerted effort to increase children’s access to technology and their awareness of being global citizens.

Dunes International School principal and director Paramjit Ahluwali said the school community was already functioning.

“When our students return as usual, the school comes back to life and I noticed today that our students are well prepared and settled in, even on their first day back. They are also eagerly awaiting their school Events and sport, missed them in the last few weeks,” he added.

Ahluwalia said staff took time at the end of the first day to plan for the students for the final 100 days of the school year. This semester, Indian Curriculum Schools will organize final exams.

Overall, the first day of back-to-school seemed busy for most families and schools, with yellow school buses plying the roads and children in uniform rushing past the school gates.

“I’m excited to be back at school and see my friends. I’m part of the netball team and I’m looking forward to starting back training,” said Hind Al Ali, a third-year student at GEMS Royal Dubai School.

“It’s a great day to welcome our new and old students back to GEMS Dubai Royal School for Term 2. We are lucky to have a new FS1 class this term and it’s great to see the happy faces of our new students in their beautiful uniforms We are looking forward to another exciting term ahead,” said Lauren Pennington, Assistant Headteacher for Years 2 to 4 at GEMS Royal Dubai.