Clarification: UAE Asian schools that begin in April exempt from new holiday schedule

All Asian schools, which began their 2012 academic year in April, will be exempt from the recent Ministry of Education decision to unify the educational calendar for the year 2012-2013.

All other public and private schools will open on September 9.

"The decision will not affect Indian and Pakistani schools this year," clarified an official at the Ministry of Education.

A day after the news was broadcasted, Indian schools and teachers were still uninformed about whether they were part of the unification or not.

“We have already received the academic calendar for this year, but it doesn’t match the one listed in the media,” informed a highly placed source in a leading Indian school.

“We are not sure if there will be any changes. We have been told that the KHDA or the Ministry of Education will clarify soon.”

Even Indian teachers, who complain of facing tremendous pressure to complete school portions to match the Indian schedule, objected on grounds that this could impact the Indian board exams for grades 10th and 12th.

“If this is implemented, then the CBSE would have to work out a separate board, otherwise it won't work,” expressed Indian teacher Mini S Menon.

Click here to read the new holiday schedule for 2012-2014

Some British and American schools are now attempting to negotiate with the ministry for an alternative plan as the new rule clashes with the travel plans of most families.

“The effort to standardising holidays is understandable but making last-minute changes to the calendar would probably result in a lot of reactions,” asserted a British school spokesperson.

The announcement, under a joint agreement between the Ministries of Education and Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, has, however, been favoured by many parents for streamlining their yearly trip back home. 

“This just makes my life much easier,” echoed Reena Sharma, an Indian parent of a primary school student. “Now, we don’t have to wait till the last minute to book our tickets.”

Allowing parents, like Philip Thomas, to cash in on early booking discounts. “We've always missed out on cheaper rates as we’ve had to wait till the schools announced their holidays, but now we can book early and save money.”

Although parents, whose children studying in the same curriculum, will not benefit from the new holiday schedule, it will give them more time to chalk out their vacation.

“Just knowing the holiday dates, in advance, helps plan our travel better,” explained Indian-born parent S Kumar. 

The academic calendar was unified for public schools and universities last year, with private schools introduced this year.

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