DUBAI - The circular recently issued by Dr Ali Abdul Aziz Al Sharhan, UAE Minister of Education and Youth, with regard to the New Islamic Year's holiday caused perplexity among schools as it was thought that the holiday would be for two days for government schools and one for private schools. Many of the private schools closed their doors yesterday as did public schools. According to official sources at the ministry, the circular was re-drafted several times before it was issued, as it had included private schools and administrative staff.
The sources explained that senior officials at the ministry refused to justify the reason for not including private schools in the two-day holiday, refuting claims that private schools follow different syllabus and curricula and stressing that many of the private institutions are adopting the government curricula.