It’s not only the labour force that will be going home early over the Holy Month…

From Sunday May 28 until the end of the school term on Thursday June 22, all students in the UAE must only go to school for five hours a day.

The shortening in the school day is due to Holy Month of Ramadan, which is strongly predicted to begin on Saturday May 27.

The Ministry of Education has announced that morning assemblies will be cancelled to shorten the day, and no classes can exceed 40 minutes. Schools have also been told to stop carrying out PE classes during Ramadan.

“The school day during the month of Ramadan in all schools will be a maximum of five hours,” said the Ministry in a release.

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They also stated that boys’ schools will start the day at 8am, while girls’ schools and kindergartens will start at 9am – however we spoke to some private primary schools and they will operate from 8.30am to 1.15pm. 

Over the last few years, Ramadan has been at least during the school holidays, this is the first year in a while where it fully overlaps with the school calendar.

RAMADAN WORKING HOURS…

Remember, those in the private sector will be legally entitled to work two hours a day less over Ramadan, so if your working day is 9am to 6pm, for instance, your new hours for the month of Ramadan are 9am to 4pm. If you currently work 9am to 5pm, you can work 9am to 3pm.

If your manager says that this isn’t the case, you can tell them that the UAE labour law clearly states that: “During the month of Ramadan, normal working hours shall be reduced by two hours.”

This is, of course, unless you work in DIFC, which is governed by a separate law and only gives shorter hours to those fasting.

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