Coronavirus: Abu Dhabi private schools to resume campus learning from January

Abu Dhabi - Schools will have classrooms full of students from January, coinciding with the start of the second semester of the academic year.

Ashwani Kumar

Published: Tue 3 Nov 2020, 7:08 PM

Last updated: Tue 3 Nov 2020, 10:04 PM

Abu Dhabi private schools will start welcoming students in full strength starting January 2021, government authorities announced on Tuesday.

On August 30, schools in Abu Dhabi had reopened and started receiving students in phases along with the option of online learning for the first semester of the academic year. However, according to the new announcement, schools will have classrooms full of students from January, coinciding with the start of the second semester of the academic year.

On Tuesday, Abu Dhabi Government Media Office in a statement said the Abu Dhabi Emergency Crisis and Disasters Committee for Covid-19 Pandemic and the Department of Education and Knowledge (Adek) have agreed that private schools in Abu Dhabi will welcome all students back to classrooms from January.

Advertising

“Adek will coordinate with private schools and support them in implementing the necessary preventive and precautionary measures to maintain the health and safety of students and staff,” the statement added.

And soon after the announcement, principals of private schools received fresh guidelines from the Adek. The heads of the educational institutes are now looking forward to the next virtual meeting with the Adek to understand the new norms to be followed as the schools return to the good old normal world.

Abu Dhabi Indian School principal Neeraj Bhargava said the school is all ready to welcome all its students.

“The school is missing its students. We need to look into the mental health of the children. I think social interaction is missing. The normal life of a student is missing at home. We are more than ready to bring them back and take care of them.”

Previously, Bhargava had planned to bring the entire strength of the students back for face-to-face classes by deploying stringent precautionary measures.

“We are all prepared and ready. Children are happy to come back. I am interacting with them,” Bhargava added.

Sunrise English Private School principal Thakur Mulchandani said the school will comply with all the new set of guidelines.

“We have received the guidelines from Adek. We will follow the policies and regulations. We will have a full-fledged discussion with the Adek officials on how we have to incorporate it.”

Currently, teachers and administrative staff undergo a Covid-19 test once every two weeks.

“We are all tested every 12th or 14th day. This process started from August. We have finished six rounds of Covid-19 tests. The seventh round is coming up this Sunday,” Mulchandani added.

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com