Monday, Apr 16, 2012
Gulf News
Dubai: With the start of the new academic year in September, holidays for all public and private schools, colleges and universities in all curricula across the UAE will be unified.
The decision was taken jointly by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. All schools, colleges and universities in the country having holidays at the same time will not only help strengthen the education sector but will also contribute to enriching stability of families, Humaid Mohammad Obaid Al Qutami, Minister of Education said.
The minister also announced the beginning and ending dates for academic years. According to the decision, the new academic year for teachers and administrators will be September 2 while for all students the classes will commence on September 9. The students will have a three-week vacation after the first semester, from December 16, 2012, and ending January 3, 2013. Classes will resume on January 6.
The two-week long holidays after the second semester will commence on March 31 and end on April 11. Classes will resume on April 14, 2013. The summer holidays will begin on July 7, 2013, while the 2013-2014 academic year will begin on September 1, 2013, for teachers and administrators and on September 8 for students.
It will be extraordinarily difficult for private universities to do this because there are universities that align themselves to the parent campus in terms of delivery of the curriculum, said Raymi van der Spek, executive director of University of Wollongong in Dubai.
By Rayeesa Absal and Iman Sherif, Staff Reporters
Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
