An article on a news website suggested that all schools in Dubai were closing on June 26. Dubai's education regulator has clarified the report. The report said schools would close a day before the predicted holidays to mark the Islamic festival Eid Al Adha.
A tweet from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) responded to the publication's report. “Parents should refer to their school’s approved academic calendar for details on the end of the academic year. Federal government will announce Eid Al Adha holidays."
According to astronomical calculations, UAE residents will have a six-day break starting Tuesday, June 27. However, the actual dates are subject to the Moon's sighting, which determines the start and end of Islamic calendar months.
It was reported that schools would close on Monday - which would give students a nine-day break before summer vacation. However, KHDA says this is not the case, according to 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.
Each private school's academic calendar is published on the authority's 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.
For schools that started in September (academic year 2022-23), the school year cannot end before June 28, 2023, according to the general academic calendar. Their new academic year (2023-24) begins on August 28.
The summer break begins on July 3 for schools that started classes in April 2023-24. Classes resume on August 28 for those schools that started classes in April 2023-24.