<span>Parents in Abu Dhabi are keen for their older children to return to school next month, fearing prolonged time away from other pupils will hurt their development and mental health.</span> <span>Education authorities in the capital said children from kindergarten to Grade 5 in US-curriculum schools, and Reception to Year 6 in British ones, would start the new academic year on August 30.</span> <span>Classes for older pupils would resume four weeks later.</span> <span>Dua Ahmed, a lawyer, said she was eager to send her daughter back to school because the teenager was missing out on valuable time with classmates.</span> <span>Ayesha, 14, is in Year 9 and will head back to her British-curriculum school in Abu Dhabi before the end of next month.</span> <span>“Children are missing out on human and social interaction with their friends,” Ms Ahmed said.</span> <span>She said schools had done a great job of keeping parents informed of updates, including new safety measures to protect their pupils, but the plans should have been announced sooner.</span> “This has been very difficult for parents who came back early as they had to quarantine but they could have stayed back in their home countries," Ms Ahmed said. <span>Abu Dhabi’s Department of Education and Knowledge, the private schools regulator, announced <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/uae/education/pupils-at-abu-dhabi-s-private-schools-will-have-a-staggered-return-to-class-regulators-announce-1.1064237">measures</a> for the safe reopening of schools.</span> <span>These included limiting classroom sizes to 15 pupils and maintaining a physical distance of 1.5 metres between children. </span> <span>All private-school staff, and pupils aged 12 and older, must also take a coronavirus test before returning to lessons.</span> <span>Ms Ahmed said details as to how and when children must be screened have yet to be relayed to parents.</span> <span>“As a rule, doing the Covid-19 test is good but we have not been informed about how, where, when and how often we have to do the tests," she said.</span> <span>“If you test the children before they come to school, we know they are free of Covid-19 when they get to school, but how often will they be tested to ensure that status does not change?”</span> <span>Ms Ahmed said that despite some confusion, parents felt comforted by the stringent measures in place.</span> <span>Restricting classroom sizes and staggering attendance would keep children safe, but “the children will not get the opportunity to meet their friends”, she said.</span> <span>Sara, a Pakistani mother of two, said she was worried about her daughter in Year 7 not returning to school for six weeks.</span> <span>She said she was disheartened that the decision to delay attendance for older pupils had been announced at the last minute, making planning harder.</span> <span>“I had thought that the older children would definitely go back to school,” Sara said.</span> <span>“I feel everyone should have been allowed back in to school as children’s social, emotional and mental health is being impacted.”</span> <span>She said her children struggled with distance learning and had not had much social interaction with pupils their age.</span> <span>“The last time they met children at school was in February,” Sara said.</span> <span>“My 7-year-old son has become myopic because of increased screen time.”</span> <span>The Ministry of Education has given parents the choice of continuing with distance learning or returning to classes for the autumn term.</span> <span>Not all parents are comfortable about sending their children to school and many have opted for online learning.</span> <span>Amna Mustafa, from India, chose distance learning for her two sons, Ali, 11, and Rayaan, 9, one of whom has asthma.</span> <span>"I opted for distance learning in term one," Ms Mustafa said. </span>"When things are better I can think of sending my sons to school. <span>"But I am reluctant to send them while they still have to wear masks.”</span> <span>She said she would be comfortable sending her children back when daily cases decreased to the point that schools relaxed some safety measures.</span> <span>Children at her son’s school have been told they must wear gloves while eating.</span> <span>Ms Mustafa said she would also feel more comfortable if all pupils were tested before reopening, rather than only those 12 and older.</span> <span>“I do not know why they are testing one group of children but not the other,” she said.</span> _________