15,000 teachers to resume work next Sunday

Iman Suroor, Staff Reporter

As many as 15,000 teaching, administrative and technical staff members will resume work in 255 schools across Abu Dhabi for the second semester 2019-2020 next Sunday. In contrast, students will resume study in all government and private schools that follow the Ministry of Education’s curriculum and kindergartens on Jan 12. Earlier, schools carried out the necessary repairs and maintenance work during the first semester holidays to create the educational environment that would motivate students and teachers.

Meanwhile, the Professional Development Week for the teachers of Abu Dhabi government schools will kick off next Sunday and continue till Thursday Jan 6. During the week, a series of workshops will be organised with the aim of training the people in charge, teaching staff and academic quality development officers.

The second semester will see the launch of the 6th edition of the ‘Innovator 2020’ initiative as part of the UAE Innovation Week on Abu Dhabi Corniche in Feb. A major initiative launched by the Department of Education and Knowledge (Adek), Innovator 2020 is aimed at encouraging innovation. From Jan 26, the Adek will launch addition courses in sciences, IT, engineering, arts and mathematics under the Student Enrichment Programme. In its second phase, the programme will receive over 5,600 students for whom the programme will offer 17 courses in programming, robots, mechanical systems and arts. This will be in response to the increasing number of students who enrolled in the first phase of the programme, which was launched at the end of September.

For its part, the Emirates Transport’s School Transport Division said it had already prepared its school buses and trained its drivers, who were requested to take students to school only when visibility is clear, particularly under the current weather conditions in which dense fog is formed in the early morning hours. Bus drivers were also requested to follow the highest safety standards during transportation of students to and from schools.

Recently, the Abu Dhabi General Services Company, Musanada, announced the completion of construction works on the Mohamed bin Zayed School.

Construction costs of the all-boys school reached Dhs170 million, Musanada revealed, adding that the project was undertaken as part of the Abu Dhabi Future Schools Programme, ADFSP. The handover process to the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge, Adek, has also begun, the company added.

The school covers an area of over 25.9 thousand square metres, on a total plot area of 78.9 thousand square metre. The school building contains three-levels, and accommodates 2,550 students (1,500 C2 students and 1,050 C3 students) across 85 classrooms.

Facilities include a library, science and computer labs, arts rooms, a multipurpose hall, administration offices, an equipped sports hall, a cafeteria, a dining hall, a prayer room for students and the administration staff, external playgrounds, parking spaces and external landscaping.