What Is The New Policy For School Attendance And Unexcused Absence In The UAE?

With the students back in school, if you are a parent, you are probably already back to the old school schedule. And now, the UAE has also approved a new policy for student attendance. Yes, this is for the 2025 to 2026 academy year under the new policy announced by the Minister of Education on Monday, September 1. Here’s what it had to say!

New Policy For Attendance And Unexcused Absence

According to the new guidelines for attendance and unexcused absence, a warning system will be activated. This will be one day after the unexcused absence, as revealed in a report by the Gulf News. In fact, it also mentioned how the students’ files, along with the same for the guardians, will be referred to the competent authorities and external child protection entities after 15 days.

Unexcused Absence Must Not Exceed 15 Days

This means that if the unexcused absence exceeds 15 days by the end of a school year, the student might have to repeat the entire academic year. However, parents do have the right to file an appeal within five days from the date of notification. Another important aspect of this new policy is how it is important to inform parents about their child’s absence from school immediately.

Not only this, but under the new system, a student’s absence will be counted as two days if it is on a Friday. And the same will be applicable on any other day, which precedes or follows an official holiday. The maximum limit for an unexcused absence is five days per term and 15 days per academic year. As it happens, the aim is to highlight the importance of school attendance for academic success, and this is what the new plan aims to achieve.

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UAE Approves New Plan For The Current Academic Year

At this point, it’s worth mentioning that it was earlier this year when the UAE approved a new plan for the current academic year. This was done with several changes, with one of them being a centralised test. This only takes place in the first and third semesters. Now, schools will conduct their own summative assessments.

So now that your ward is back in school, take note of this important change regarding attendance, after all, it is quite important for academic excellence.

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