4 weeks of winter holidays … and unifying the end of classes between public and private schools

The Ministry of Education has announced a new structure for the school evaluation that is applied to government and private schools in the UAE, as of the academic year 2025-2026, and the structure adopted by the Education and Human Development Council includes fundamental amendments to the timetable for the end -of -semester leaves, with the aim of uniting them between public and private schools, and this update comes within the framework of the ministry’s efforts to achieve the target of the “general community”, including in This is to enhance family cohesion, and to support the student and the family by providing a balanced educational environment that takes into account the distribution of study and comfort periods throughout the year.

The Minister of Education, Sarah bint Youssef Al -Amiri, said in a press statement yesterday that the new structure of the school evaluation represents a qualitative shift in the administration of the academic year, and comes within the framework of a national orientation adopted by the ministry to achieve the targets of the “Year of Society”, by building a more harmonious educational system with the lives of students and families, and more capable of enhancing social ties, and devoting the values of cooperation and community solidarity, noting that the unification of holidays The dates of study between schools reflect the ministry’s keenness to create a stable and flexible educational environment that gives the family more space for planning and organization, and active participation in the lives of its educational and social children.

She added that this transformation reflects the ministry’s vision in converting the school calendar from just a timetable to a national strategic tool that contributes to supporting the quality of educational and social life alike, as it indicated that the clarity of leave and the stability of its dates facilitates the societal bodies and the cultural and tourism sectors to develop their programs and plans, in a manner that integrates with the national educational calendar, and enhances the interdependence between education and society in its goals and priorities.

For his part, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Eng. Muhammad Al -Qasim, stressed that the direction launched by the Ministry in restructuring the school evaluation embodies its commitment to support family cohesion, and comes consistent with the targets of the “Year of Society” by enabling the family to interact with the academic system smoothly, away from the complications resulting from the variation of the children’s schedules, indicating that the clarity of the dates of the holidays and coinciding with them between schools It will contribute to facilitating pre -planning for the quarterly vacations, and enhances the opportunities for family and community participation in a more harmonious and stable atmosphere.

He added that the new structure of the school calendar takes into account the comfort of the student through the regular distribution of periods of study and comfort, which reflects the ministry’s keenness to provide a balanced educational experience that takes into account the needs of students inside and outside the school, and reinforces the quality of their presence and their connection to the educational process.

The new calendar includes unified and specific dates for the beginning of the school year, the end of the three classes, in addition to the end of the year, and applied to all schools in the state, government and private, within a joint reference framework that contributes to raising the efficiency of the educational system.

The application of the new calendar begins on August 25, 2025 with the start of the first semester of the next academic year 2025-2026, which concludes with a four-week long winter holiday, starting from the eighth of December 2025 to the fourth of January 2026, provided that the study is resumed on the fifth of Jan To participate in the national and social activities and activities that the state is witnessing during this period.

The second semester starts on the fifth of January 2026 and continues until the spring holiday that extends from 16 to 29 March, with the study be resumed on March 30, with the exception of private schools in the Emirate of Sharjah, which resumes the study on March 23, 2026.

This time is paved for students a strong start for the third semester that kicks off on March 30, 2026, and concludes the academic year on the third of July of the same year, within a more balanced and clear educational system in the distribution of holidays, in a way that achieves cognitive accumulation, and enhances the mental and mental health of students, and is excluded from the date of the end of the school year private schools in the Emirate of Sharjah, where its last school day is in the second of July 2026.

The school calendar also included the inclusion of licenses in the middle of each semester of government schools and private schools that apply the Ministry’s curriculum, with the aim of providing short and regular rest periods during the academic year, where the mid -semester leave begins from 13 to 19 October 2025, and is considered an early break during the longest semester of the year, while the mid -semester vacation runs from 11 to 15 February 2026, and comes after half of the semester, to be granted, to be granted Students are a space to restore activity and balance, and in the third semester, the mid -semester leave is granted from May 25 to 31 May 2026, in conjunction with the blessed Eid Al -Adha holiday for the year 2026, and these short leaves aim to alleviate academic pressure on students, and give them additional periods with their families.

The Ministry granted private schools that are not applied to the Ministry’s curriculum flexibility in the inclusion of mid -semester leave during the months of October and February only, provided that the duration of each leave does not exceed five consecutive days, and that it is not extended or changed its timing outside the specified time frame, in a way that takes into account its operational needs without prejudice to the national calendar.

The Ministry stressed the need for all schools to adhere to the approved evaluation, including conducting the final assessments or completing the requirements of the curriculum during the last week of each semester, to ensure the regularity of students until the last school day, exempt from that grades that are subject to international tests held at pre -specific dates, and the ministry stressed the need for all private schools that apply the ministry’s curriculum to evaluate the evaluation of the central tests approved in schools Government.

• The Ministry of Education granted private schools that are not applied to the Ministry’s curriculum flexibility in the inclusion of mid -semester vacations during October and February only.

• “The Ministry” emphasized that the new structure of the school calendar takes into account the comfort of the student through the regular distribution of periods of study and comfort.