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Asian schools happy with old schedule

Asian school authorities and parents say being exempted from the Ministry of Education-prescribed holiday schedule has worked out to their benefit. Last week, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) announced that Asian schools in Dubai have been exempted from the unified calendar.

Khaleej Times spoke to a few school authorities that follow the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus in Dubai, who said that the new calendar was in sync with the the CBSE requirements.

Ashok Kumar, CEO of the Indian High School (IHS), who is also on the board of governors of the CBSE, said: “As per board requirements, we are supposed to have 190-200 working days in a year. The academic calendar that has been set by the Ministry is in lieu with CBSE’s requirements. So being exempted from the new holiday scheme does not make too much of a difference to us.” He added that the only difference between the Indian schools calendar and the UAE schools calendar is that the academic year starts in March-April in the UAE and in June in India.

Meanwhile, Principal Rafia Zafar Ali of Leaders Private School, Sharjah, another school that follows the CBSE syllabus, said: “Our calendar was prepared months in advance and after a lot of careful planning, and all our teachers and staff have been instructed to return by September 2.

The summer holidays begin on July 1, which gives them the prescribed 60-day holiday as well.” Meanwhile, parents say that for them, the usual rut for booking air tickets to their respective hometowns have begun. Working parents are caught up in getting leaves sanctioned from their work places.

“Tickets are an expensive affair this time of the year. I booked tickets for my family and myself two weeks ago. I applied for leaves about a month ago. This happens to us every year and it’s nothing new,” said Mathew Jose, marketing professional and a father of two children studying in Dubai.

Another parent, Jenny D’silva, whose daughter studies in Grade 5 in a school in Dubai said: “I did read about the Asian schools being exempted from the ministry-prescribed holidays, which I believe is a good thing because I had already booked our tickets to go home, and it would’ve been expensive if I had to cancel my tickets.”

Pakistani national Sameena Imran is a teacher at Arab Unity, Dubai, and a mother of three. She said: “My youngest one studies here and my older kids are back home in Pakistan. More than teachers or parents, it’s the headache of the school administration to make things easier. I will definitely go back home for the holidays, whatever be the status of the holidays because my children are back there.”

Dolly Gir, a middle school English teacher at Our Own English High School Sharjah, has two sons studying in the UAE. “Our family travels back home for the summer holidays every year. And my husband’s annual leave dates are usually in sync with the kids’ and my holidays, so we do not have much of an issue there.

But if we were to follow the ministry-prescribed holiday calendar, there would have been a clash after the exams in April. But now, this is convenient,” said Gir.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com