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Back to the hustle and bustle

Time flies when you are having fun. For most school students in the UAE, the two months of summer holidays seemed like only a moment away as they wore freshly pressed uniforms and heaved their backpacks to get back to school yesterday.

Summer holidays officially came to an end and schools across the UAE reopened on Sunday, September 9. With an exciting new syllabi planned, school authorities and teachers gladly welcomed students back to campus.

The day started as early as 5.30 am, with students and parents seen at designated bus pick-up points across the country. Also, school authorities have reported close to 100 per cent attendance in schools.

Chitra Sharma, Principal of JSS School, Dubai said: “All the excitement which was missing from school is back again. The staff and teachers were waiting outside the school and it was very exciting to see the children back in campus again. We organised a special interactive assembly with the students. They spoke about how exciting it was to be back in school.” Sharma said that close to 98 per cent of the students reported to school on the first day. She added that several new facilities like a language lab and special learning hub was introduced in the campus.

Michael Guzder, Principal, The Millennium School, Dubai said: “The school was bustling with excitement and teachers were more excited than the pupils. The students were happy to be back to new classrooms. Over the summer we painted the school and new facilities like laptops in laboratories and new furniture have been brought in. The school libraries have been stocked with new books as well.”

Guzder added that attendance was close to 100 per cent. Even though slight traffic was reported, buses reached school on time.

Sending her little daughter to the nursery for the first time was a moment filled with anxiety and excitement for Sharanya Mohanbala,

“My daughter Spatika is three-and-a-half years old and today was her first day at New Dubai Nursery. For a first timer like me, it was a very exciting day. I made breakfast, packed her lunch box, her school bag. Personally, I felt a lot of separation anxiety because I was anxious to know what she would be doing at school. Her school bus dropped her back at 12.20pm and it was the longest wait for me. She came back happy and smiling because she was lacking a play group here and school was a good change for her,” said Sharanya.

Asma Huzaifa was partly glad to send her son, Ahmed, back to school. “He missed his friends and because it was so hot this summer, he hardly stepped out to play. I would rather see him spend time in school, instead of being cooped up at home.”

Students speak

Most students were excited about returning to school after the two months of holidays.

Izaan Khan, 15, and a Grade 10 student of The Indian High School said: “I personally think the whole phenomenon is overhyped. It’s not such big a deal. People should get used to it by now. Retail outlets use ‘back to school’ as a marketing strategy to sell products. As a student, coming back to school and being excited about meeting friends is something that comes naturally.”

Ten-year-old Ahmed Huzaifa, a student at Our Own Indian School said: “It feels great to be back to school. I had a lot of fun over the summer holidays, but I missed my school friends.”

Neil Sengupta, 15, and a Grade 11 student of Delhi Public School, Sharjah was excited about getting back to school. “Studies are in full swing. Personally, I was a bit excited about getting back to school. It was bit of a jump having to wake up at 5am after two months of holidays. We got an entire new block dedicated to the primary wing and we have a better cricket pitch, as well.”

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com