Will UAE Schools Close Again Tomorrow? (2024)

Will UAE Schools Close Again Tomorrow?

By Carli Allan

LATEST: As the UAE recovers from the record-breaking rainfall last week – the highest in 75 years – students are preparing to return to school and nursery tomorrow (Monday, April 22).

Dubai's KHDA has published the following announcement:

"As our education community prepares to resume onsite learning, we ask all Dubai private schools, universities and nurseries to remain flexible and accommodating to the needs of students, teachers and staff, and continue offering distance learning for those facing ongoing logistical challenges after the severe weather."

UPDATE:Dubai private schools will remain closed on Thursday and Friday (April 18-19).

The KHDA has just announced that schools in Dubai will continue with distance learning following the storms across the UAE yesterday.

Sharjah has also announced that all public and private schools will remain closed tomorrow (Thursday, April 18) – and all government schools in the UAE will continue with distance learning on Thursday and Friday (April 18-19).

With heavy rainfall continuing across the UAE, the big question is: will schools be closed tomorrow? After a full day of distance learning in all the emirates, parents are now wondering about the possibility of extended closures due to the weather.

In Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah, private schools and nurseries have been directed to close and offer distance learning for today (Tuesday, April 16); private schools in Sharjah, Ras al Khaimah, Ajman and Umm al Quwain were instructed to close on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

There is heavy rainfall still across all of the emirates for the rest of today, and rain is forecast continue into early Wednesday morning. This raises the question of whether all UAE schools will stay closed tomorrow too.

Some schools have already announced that they will move to remote learning tomorrow, including the entirety of the GEMS Education network and Horizon English School.

Brighton College Dubai shared that it awaits confirmation from the KHDA on whether to move to remote learning, but aims to reopen as soon as possible. Bloom World Academy has confirmed that it will remain open unless directed by the KHDA to move to remote learning for the day.

Information on individual schools will be updated as schools make announcements.

Mr Zafar Raja, Group Chief Operating Officer at GEMS Education, confirmed:

"Given the severity of the weather conditions across the UAE today and in the interests of the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff, we have made the decision to extend remote learning across the GEMS Education network. All our schools will therefore remain closed on Wednesday 17 April, with students continuing to learn from home. Our families have been informed and will be kept updated through our usual channels."

Mr Raja said that that none of the GEMS schools in the UAE sustained significant structural damage during the recent storms, though they were all affected to some degree by wind damage or flooding.

He added:

"Our support teams have been working around the clock to deal with the issues and we salute them for their dedication and professionalism. Additionally, many of our schools are still not accessible by road and this will be a major factor in our decision-making surrounding the reopening of campuses.

"Each school will continue to inform parents of all firm developments, but obviously will not return to classroom learning until it is absolutely safe to do so."

Mr Hitesh Bhagat, Principal at Dubai International Academy Emirates Hill, told us:

"Currently, we are waiting for the authorities to confirm. Our school support team is working very hard to ensure that building is safe and ready for tomorrow. Unfortunately, there is a lot of water logging in surrounding roads currently and some areas are completely cut off. Synchronised distance learning has taken place today so there has been no loss of learning time."

On Monday, the Emirates Schools Education Establishment declared a two-day closure for all public schools in the UAE – both Tuesday and Wednesday – due to the unpredictable weather forecast.

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