Parents of students have stated that they prefer not to enroll their young children in any of the KG2-KG1 classrooms in private schools for the next academic year, preferring them to enroll directly in the first grade, attributing this to their material income being affected by the pandemic of the Corona virus in the world. These days.
The Dubai Knowledge and Human Development Authority stated that passing the kindergarten stage is not a requirement for the student to enroll in the first grade of school, while the deputy director of a private school confirmed that enrollment in the kindergarten stage is witnessing a significant decline from previous years, reaching 50%.
In detail, Othman Mahmoud (Talib’s father) confirmed that he made a decision not to register his son at the KG1 stage, because his enrollment in the school represents a new financial burden that the family’s income does not bear, because of the work and salaries affected by the current circumstances, adding: “I have another child In the third grade, and his tuition fees are about 18,000 dirhams, in addition to the school bus fees and daily expenses, and if the second son joins the school, this doubles the sums required in the school year, and the salary does not meet these expenses », wishing the conditions would improve soon so that he could register his son In (KG2) for the academic year 2022/2021.
Khaled Mansour (the father of a child) said, “The kindergarten stage is more dependent on the educational activity of the child than studying specific subjects. Therefore, not enrolling my daughter in a school at this stage will not significantly affect her level and educational attainment later, so we will give up the idea of joining the school for the school year. Al-Muqbil, ”attributing his reluctance to register his daughter in kindergarten until his work was greatly affected by the Corona pandemic, which affected the countries of the world.
Yasmine Essam (the mother of a child) stated that she presented her son (KG1) in a private school in Sharjah two months ago, and she paid 500 dirhams for a seat reservation, but she wants to cancel the registration, and to delay her son's enrollment in the school for the KG2 or first grade, if pandemic repercussions continue "Corona" on the labor market, noting that it works in a private agency, with a salary of 10,000 dirhams, and the employer reduced salaries by 30%, which affected the family budget. For its part, the deputy headmaster of a private school, who preferred not to be named, stated that the registration of students at the kindergarten stage, for the next academic year, is witnessing a 50% decrease from the ending school year.
She attributed the decline in the enrollment level for the kindergarten stage, to the fact that many families were financially affected by the Corona pandemic, which led them to not register their children at this stage, especially since it is not compulsory for the student to be accepted in the first grade afterwards.
She added that the student’s guardian sees his son’s enrollment in kindergarten as an opportunity for social interaction between students, and the development of their skills, especially at this young age, and therefore sees that the Corona pandemic missed students this opportunity, because it greatly affected this interaction, including It requires preventive measures, the most important of which is the spacing between students, which causes the student's guardian to refrain from registering him at this stage. The Dubai Knowledge and Human Development Authority stated that the ministerial decision allows the student’s guardian to register his son directly in the first grade if he reaches the legal age required to register him in this class, as the student is required to be six years of age and did not exceed the age of eight before December 31 of the year In which he is accepted, and he is not required to join the "kindergarten" stage.
Skills Development
The Ministry of Education stated that the kindergarten stage aims to prepare students for the stage of primary education, by developing their skills, and providing them with care and education in early childhood. For the first grade, the student is admitted if he completes six years of age, and did not exceed the age of eight before December 31 in the year in which he is admitted.