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UAE clarifies minimum admission age for some students

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Abu Dhabi - No exceptions will be accepted on the dates specified in the decision, according to the ministry

Published: Thu 28 Jan 2021, 7:13 PM

Updated: Thu 28 Jan 2021, 7:15 PM

The UAE has clarified the minimum age for admissions of pupils in preparatory school and kindergarten, raising the age by four months, starting with the next academic year.

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The Ministry of Education (MoE) said a child must be three years old to be enrolled in preparatory school and four years old for Kindergarten by August 31 — instead of December 31, as was earlier calculated, according to a report by Emarat Al Youm.

The decision applies to students of public and private schools that follow the MoE curriculum and French schools for the academic year 2021-22.

The ministry has explained that the minimum age for the next academic year for students’ admissions in the preparatory year will be three years, so that children born between September 1, 2017 and August 31, 2018 are also accepted. The minimum age for admitting students in KG1 will be four years and students born between September 1, 2016 and August 31, 2017 will be accepted.

The MoE further said the minimum age for KG2 students will be five years and students born on September 1, 2015 until August 31, 2016 will be admitted. The minimum age for Grade 1 students will be six years, so that students who were born between September 1, 2014 until August 31, can apply for admissions.

The ministry indicated that the minimum age for admissions of students in private schools whose academic year begins in April will be calculated in such a way that the child must have reached the acceptable age by March 31 of the school year in which they are admitted, starting from the academic year 2022-23.

No exceptions will be accepted on the dates specified in the decision, according to the ministry. Cases of students coming from outside the country will be studied and registered in government schools based on their fulfilment of the acceptable age.

Authorities said the dates specified in the new decision only applies to the registration or admissions of new students and don’t affect continuing students.

The ministry had earlier set the minimum age for admissions for the current academic year at four years for KG-1 and five years for KG-2. For Grade 1 in the current academic year, the minimum age of admission was set at six years and not exceeding eight years on December 31, 2020.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com



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