Dubai rain: How schools switched to remote learning overnight

A few institutions chose to remain closed, providing study materials to students as school maintenance teams remained at work after the heavy downpour

Nandini Sircar

Published: Fri 27 Oct 2023, 5:15 PM

Several schools in Dubai swiftly transitioned to online and hybrid learning modes on Friday, in just an evening.

On Thursday, a heavy downpour, accompanied by thunder and lightning, hit Dubai forcing schools to order the suspension of classes early, with bottlenecks reported on several roads due to water logging.

Even the emirate’s education regulator the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) urged private educational institutions in Dubai to be accommodating, taking into account the needs of parents and students given the severe weather conditions.

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Therefore, following internal meetings and discussions, school administrators emphasised that in light of the government's implemented measures amidst the continuous rains that had been affecting the country, they decided to provide flexibility.

Students wear raincoats to school

Photo: Repton Dubai.

Schools that remained open saw students walking in with raincoats, while several other institutions in the emirate offered remote learning options to thousands of pupils.

A few institutions chose to remain closed providing study materials to students as school maintenance teams remained at work after the heavy downpour.

Lessons were set asynchronously in primary classes via apps like Seesaw and Toddle, while secondary school students also had classes asynchronously, primarily via Phoenix Classroom following a regular timetable.

Gillian Hammond, Chief Education Officer of Excella and Principal of Repton School Dubai said: “Repton Dubai and Repton Al Barsha were able to rapidly move to offering our parents the choice between remote learning and on-campus learning today.”

Principals emphasised parents were able to select one or the other, but institutions ensured learning continued for all students as the pandemic had set a precedent.

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“Due to previous Covid protocols, and our aim to utilise technology to accelerate learning, the switch to our Remote Learning option was seamless. Our students are highly capable digital citizens and are able to access learning safely from any location,” she added.

Hammond continued: “No changes or additional communications were required. Our existing systems of communication and access to learning were automatically accessed by all members of our community to successfully learn from home.”

School site teams worked through the night

Meanwhile, school site teams also worked throughout the night to ensure the school was ready and safe to open on time this morning.

“We are also extremely grateful to the RTA who worked hard to pump water away from our access roads. Today was a real team effort and I am very proud of everyone.”

Karim Murcia, Principal/CEO, GEMS Al Barsha National School, said: “Due to the adverse weather conditions, and in the interest of keeping our community safe, we switched to online learning today. Parents of students in FS1 to Year 2 were contacted by their child’s class teacher with an outline of the activities for the day. Students followed their usual timetable and completed the work set in their allocated lesson time.”

However, Principals reiterated that nothing could replicate the experience of learning face-to-face in school, so they opted to remain open while giving the option to provide distance learning.

Wayne Howsen, Principal, The Aquila School said: “The health and safety of our community is of course our priority, and we encouraged families to send children to school if it was safe to do so. All our families were offered the option to engage in online lessons if they chose, but we only had about ten families across the school that opted for this.”

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