Private schools in Abu Dhabi can face upto Dhs250,000 fine for flouting Covid-19 guidelines

Private schools in Abu Dhabi can face upto Dhs250,000 fines for flouting Covid-19 guidelines during their face-to-face learning sessions, the emirate’s education regulator Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (Adek) has said.

Adek has sent a circular to schools detailing the fines which will be imposed in case they do not implement the prescribed measures to safeguard against the virus, Khaleej Times reported on Monday.

– A warning and fines of between Dh10,000 and Dh20,000 for missing documents or records on implementation of Covid-19 measures.

– Fines of Dh10,000, Dh20,000 and Dh30,000 will be levied for inadequate implementation of the safety measures if caught for the first, second and third time, respectively.

– If a school is caught not complying with Health Safety and Environmental (HSE) Hazards norms, it will face fines of Dh50,000 for the first time, Dh75,000 the second time, and Dh100,000 the third time. If it repeats the violation thrice, the school is required to transfer to full remote learning and parents have the right to transfer their children to another school and get full refund of the school fees.

– Schools which are found to be completely negligent of the Covid-19 precautionary measures face a fine of Dh250,000. If found to have repeated the violation for twice, the school is required to transfer to full remote learning and parents have the right to transfer their children to another school and get full refund of the school fees.

Last month, the UAE’s Minister of Education, Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi outlined plans for a phased return of students to the campus at the start of the year.

Read: UAE schools to close if Covid-19 cases spike – education ministry

A maximum of 25 per cent of students were allowed to return to the campus, with that number gradually increased.

The ministry has permitted a hybrid option of learning for the first semester of the academic year.