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29 March 2024

Emirates ID must for Abu Dhabi schools; not Dubai

Eida (SUPPLIED)

Published
By Parag Deulgaonkar

Parents can breathe a sign of relief as Dubai is not planning to make it mandatory for school children to have an Emirates ID card for enrolling into 2012-2013 academic year, 'Emirates24|7' can reveal.

“There is no plan in Dubai yet to make it compulsory for children to have Emirates ID to take up school admission. The process remains the same as earlier,” informed sources said on conditions of anonymity.

Mandatory in Abu Dhabi

Meanwhile, in Abu Dhabi authorities have cancelled a decision to exempt children under 15 from having a national ID card and told their families to register them before the end of a new deadline on October 1.

The announcement by the Emirates National Identity Authority (Eida) follows a decision by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) that all children must produce a national ID card when registering for the new school year, reported Arabic language daily 'Al Khaleej'.

“This is a compulsory measure…they should do so before the end of the deadline on October 1 or they will have to pay delay fees,”  Eida said in a statement.

Children who do not have separate passports would not be given an ID card, adding that applicants under that age need not come to Eida registration centres as applications can be submitted by their parents, the statement added.

'Al Khaleej' said Adec’s decision applies only to public schools and the report did not mention whether such measure would be extended to other emirates.

Dubai parents get breather

Parents in Dubai, meanwhile, are happy that they do not have to rush through the process. Elizabeth G, a mother of a six-year and four-year-old kids, said: “I haven’t applied for the cards for my kids… good that they haven’t made it compulsory, or else I would have to rush to a typing centre.”

However, an Eida spokesman advised parents to apply for ID cards at the earliest for their children.

“Children below 15 are not required to go to the typing centers or service points. Parents can now fill their forms online,” the spokesman told this website.

The grace period for registering national and resident children will end on October 1, 2012 across the UAE.

According to the spokesperson, it was up to the respective government departments to decide on whether to make the ID compulsory for now. “…but eventually all government departments across the country will make it mandatory for residents to have ID cards,” he added.