Schools, colleges in the UAE to close for four weeks from March 8

The UAE’s Ministry of Education (MoE) took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce an early start to spring vacation for public and private schools, colleges and universities.

The protracted spring break is to begin next Sunday, March 8, for a period of four weeks.

All schools & universities in the UAE will be closed for 4 weeks starting Sunday March 8. Facilities will be deep cleaned during this time. pic.twitter.com/Y6kkD74sZe

— وزارة التربية (@MOEducationUAE) March 3, 2020

Spring holidays for public and private schools that follow the ministry’s curriculum across the UAE were originally slated to begin on March 29 and end on April 11.

Read: UAE announces spring holidays for private, public schools

The ministry also announced a distance learning initiative as well as the launch of a sterilisation programme for educational facilities during the vacation period.

“Public MoE schools will start distance learning initiatives in the last two weeks of the holidays. Private schools are encouraged to share their distance learning plans with parents & students,” MoE’s tweet read.

The ministry added that the vacation period would be utilised for vigorous cleaning operations of school facilities, universities, and school buses to ensure that a healthy learning environment is offered.

“This decision was made in the best interests of the health & safety of students and the wider education community at schools & universities,” the ministry tweeted.

The education ministry had announced earlier that all nurseries were to temporarily close from March 1 as a precautionary measure against the virus.

Read: Coronavirus update: Number of cases in the UAE total 21, nurseries to be closed from March 1

Also read: Dubai’s KHDA clears the air about coronavirus concerns