Dubai, UAE: Schools that follow Indian and Pakistani curriculums in the UAE are exempt from the unified calendar for the 2014/15 academic year, said Marwan Al Sawaleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education.
In line with the Ministerial Decision 165, 2014, the Ministry of Education announced earlier this week that school and university working hours will be unified to help families spend time together.
The decree said all students will start school for the academic year 2014/15 on August 31 and end on June 25, 2015. Staff and faculty of schools and universities will start on August 24, 2014 and end the year on July 9, 2015.
The decision includes all universities, adult learning centres, public schools and private school, except those that follow the Indian and Pakistani curriculums, said Al Sawaleh.
"Since Indian and Pakistani schools follow a completely different academic calendar that starts in April, they are not covered by this decision."
Gulf News spoke to authorities who said they will follow the unified calendar.
Mohammad Ahmad Darwish, Chief of Regulations and Permits Commission at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), said all schools will operate under a unified calendar for the 2014/15 academic year, in accordance with Ministerial Decision 165, 2014.
"The changes, which were issued on March 23, have been communicated to schools by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority. All schools must commit and update their calendar accordingly by April 3, 2014," said Darwish.
Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) has also said it will follow the Ministry of Education directives for the number of school days in 2014-2015.
"Adec, the ministry and KHDA worked together to produce this calendar, which will apply to all public and private schools as well as higher education institutions with regard to holidays," said an authority spokesperson.
Among the major changes that came with the decree are the addition of ten extra school days and the deduction of one week from the first semester break.
© Gulf News
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