UAE parents have backed plans for schoolchildren to return to the classroom for the start of the new academic year – providing it is safe to do so. Schools closed their doors in March to stem the spread of coronavirus and agreed to adopt distance learning for more than a million pupils across the country. On Monday, education chiefs confirmed they were drawing up plans to reopen schools in September with strict safety measures in place, including reduced class sizes, pupil temperature checks, a ban on sharing food and a 30 per cent cap on school bus passengers. Dubai's school pupils and university students should expect to return to classrooms and lecture halls after the summer, the city's education regulator said. The Knowledge and Human Development Authority said the learning experience would look different and to expect a mix of in-class learning and home study. Abir Saud, 37, a mother of three in Dubai, said it was important for children to return to normality as soon as possible. "We cannot keep our children from the outside world and with things opening up, it seems quite ridiculous not to send them to school," she said. "There is also weighing the effects of distance learning on our children's psychology and how they interact and learn from being with other children and professional teachers. "My twins are in foundation stage and will not benefit from any sort of lessons on iPads and Zoom. “We had a few trials with their nursery and it just does not work. They got so bored. My seven-year-old hates online learning and she hates staring at her iPad and not being with her friends." Ms Saud said she was not in favour of blended learning. "The effect of distance learning so far has been negative and I do not wish it to continue as it affects the wellbeing of my children," she said. Ms Saud said schools would need to take to ensure continuous sanitation of premises and monitor children for any sign of illness. Clementina Kongslund, 42, a Romanian with two children aged seven and nine in Dubai, said her daughters, Valentina, nine, and Benedicte, seven, were eager to return to school but she would want them to return only when it is safe to do so. Ms Kongslund said schools should offer the choice of in-person lessons and online schooling to parents, as some may want to be careful. "If some children have low immunity, parents may prefer to keep them home. How will the schools help these children?" said Ms Kongslund. "My children keep asking me: 'When are we going back?' My husband and I are working full time, so we have so many things to consider now. "I would have to hire a tutor for online learning and I would expect at least a 25-per-cent discount in fees," said the mother who pays close to Dh90,000 in school fees for her children. She said schools should install sanitisers, ensure pupils wear masks properly, and maintain social distance when they open. Radwa Allabban, Egyptian-British managing director of an Abu Dhabi communications consultancy, is the mother of three boys aged four, six and 10. She said she wanted to send her children back to school full-time but only when a vaccine was available. “I would be happy to send my kids to school in September, provided the school can perhaps arrange for reduced class capacity to maintain a degree of social distancing," Ms Allabban said. "So, if the school would have half the children for two days and then the other half for the other two days of the week, that would be reasonable in the short term. "My husband and I tried to support our children with distance learning, but that isn’t sustainable in the long term. Both of us work full-time and have demanding careers, so we feel that our children will miss out on valuable education and personal development if they spend another school year at home.” Alison Rego, 37, from India, said she would be happy to send her seven-year-old daughter back to school in Sharjah in September if the number of coronavirus cases continued to decline. She hopes to initially send her child back to school for a few days each week to gradually get her back into the classroom environment, but expects discounts on fees to be offered. “If I am sending my child to school for only 50 per cent of the time, I expect that the school would only charge me 50 per cent of the fees,” she said. “If I am only sending my child to school for half the time, how can I be expected to pay the entire amount? “I have not re-registered my daughter at her school and I will evaluate the situation in August and make a decision. "If the number of coronavirus cases is on the rise at that time, I would not want to send my child to school."
