UAE October school break 2026: Why some siblings have different holidays, and what parents need to check now

Dubai: Parents have confirmed that the plethora of school calendars deprives some families of their children being together during the October break (midterm break), as some students get nine consecutive days away from school, while their siblings continue attending classes or taking exams in schools that follow different academic calendars. They shared that a single family may find itself facing two or three holiday calendars, especially when children are divided between schools whose academic year begins in August or September and others whose year begins in April. Parents stressed that the problem does not lie in the shortness or length of the holiday, but rather in its lack of synchronisation between the children, and what results from this is the rearrangement of parents’ work hours, childcare and family activities. The mid-term break schedule for the first semester of the 2026-2027 academic year varies; students in schools subject to the unified academic calendar get five days off, from Monday, October 12 to Friday, October 16, which actually extends to nine consecutive days, taking into account the two weekend holidays, from Saturday, October 10 to Sunday, October 18 - before resuming studies on the morning of Monday, October 19. These dates include government and private schools that adhere to the unified calendar, including private schools that implement the Ministry of Education curriculum, as well as international schools whose academic year begins in August or September according to their approved calendars. While the nine-day break does not include all students, holidays vary in schools that operate according to an academic year that begins in March or April, especially schools that follow Indian, Pakistani and Japanese curricula, where their holiday is from October 19 to 23 according to the dates in their calendars. In Dubai, these schools operate within an academic cycle that extends from spring to March of the following year, while the Indian and Pakistani curriculum schools in Sharjah started their current academic year on March 30, which makes their study periods and holidays not necessarily identical to the October holiday approved for schools subject to the unified calendar. The multiplicity of calendars puts some families in front of two or more holiday dates within the same household; as one child begins his holiday, while his brother continues his studies or exams in a school that follows a different academic course, which confuses the organisation of the family week and the parents’ commitments. In another instance of scheduling discrepancies, private schools in Dubai informed parents that the mid-term break would be brought forward by a full week to October 12–16, instead of the previously scheduled October 19–23, to align with the unified academic calendar. The notices of change included Dubai British School, Safa British School, and Al Wahda Al Arabiya School. Meanwhile, calendars published on official websites showed that other schools, including Dove Green, had adopted the new dates, making the most recent calendar adopted by each school the definitive reference for the start and end dates of the break. Scheduling issues within families Mayada Hassan said that the different holiday dates sometimes prevent the family from benefiting from them together. Picture credit: Supplied The problem is evident within families whose children are distributed among schools with different academic calendars; one of them starts his vacation, while his brother continues studying the following day. Parent Mayada Hassan said that the different holiday dates sometimes prevent the family from benefiting from them together, explaining that one of her children gets a mid-term break, while the other continues to study at a school that follows an academic year that begins in April. She added: “The problem is that the children’s holidays do not coincide; when one of them stays at home and the other goes to school, the holiday loses its family character, and the family is faced with two different schedules.” Parent Siham Abdel-Radi said that changing the holiday dates after the initial calendar release disrupts family commitments more than the calendar change itself, noting that parents arrange their children's work, activities, and schedules well in advance. She added, "We need a clear and stable calendar from the beginning of the year; any subsequent changes not only alter the holiday dates but also completely rearrange the family's week." Parent Adel Shehata explained that the biggest challenge for working families arises when one child's vacation coincides with the parents' continued work and the other siblings' schooling, necessitating additional arrangements for childcare and daily activities. He added, "School holidays don't mean holidays for parents. When children's schedules differ, the family is required to manage multiple schedules simultaneously, increasing the organisational burden throughout