A precautionary measure for the safety of students and staff

Private schools turn education into “virtual” for a week

Schools keep track of students attending classes.

archival

Private schools in Dubai and Sharjah decided to transfer their education system from “presence” to “virtual”, for a period of one week, as a precautionary measure to protect students and school workers from infection with the “Corona” virus.

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai and the Sharjah Private Education Authority allowed schools to adopt distance education for a short period.

The schools informed the students’ parents of their decision via “WhatsApp”, e-mail and SMS text messages, pointing out that the “virtual” distance education week is subject to extension, if necessary.

A private school in Dubai notified the parents of its students of transferring them to the distance education system, until January 16, in addition to that all exams will be “online”, and education in the specified classes will return to the attendance system on the 17th of the same month.

A private school in the Emirate of Sharjah informed its students, via an email, to extend the “virtual education” for an additional one week, starting from January 17th until the 20th of the same month, explaining that the study will be through the same programs and electronic platforms that it specified for the virtual study before. Where the lessons are broadcast through the Microsoft Teams program, according to the current study schedules and dates.

The school stressed in its message that students’ attendance of classes is “compulsory”, as the school administration will follow up attendance in each class, and the student’s failure to attend classes will be considered absence without excuse, pointing out that decisions related to the adoption of the education pattern issued by the school are subject to health and official decisions and developments in the state.

The school's message indicated that it delivers textbooks to students in two days, one of them yesterday (Thursday), and the second next Sunday from eight in the morning until one in the afternoon.

Another school informed the parents of its students that, in order to ensure the smooth progress of the educational process, it will extend the distance education pattern, for a period of one week, to all students in all educational levels, from the foundation kindergarten to the 13th grade, starting from the 17th of this January until the 20th of the same month, as a procedure Precautionary, extendable, if necessary.

On the other hand, a teacher working in a private school in Sharjah said that the school obliges all teaching staff to conduct a “Corona” smear, and send the result to the administration next Sunday as a maximum, although the school adopts the distance education method, and teachers do not attend school. , considering that conducting the swab is an additional cost for teachers, because they are committed to teaching from their homes and do not mix with students or other school workers.

Finally, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai stated that private schools in the emirate can partially or completely switch to the "virtual" distance education system for a period of 48 hours, without obtaining prior approval.

The authority clarified that within the framework of the updated precautionary measures, school leaders can transfer a class, academic year, or section of the school or the entire school to the distance learning model for a period of 48 hours, without obtaining prior approval.

The Sharjah Private Education Authority provided private schools in the emirate with the opportunity to take the appropriate decision to switch to the “virtual” distance education system, temporarily and for a period of 48 hours (two school days), within the framework of procedures for dealing with “Covid-19” cases in the school.

She stated that distance learning is an option available to families of private school students in Sharjah, until further notice.

Suspension of activities

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai confirmed that, within the framework of the updated precautionary measures and preventive measures, all school trips and gatherings inside the school, such as the morning queue and group activities, including physical education classes, must be suspended.

Extra-curricular activities inside and outside the school should be suspended, and school canteens and other places where food is served or eaten should be closed.

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news