Schools begin classes with a “student questionnaire” about transportation services, canteens, and books

Public and private schools begin work after the mid-semester break by monitoring the opinions of students and parents about the school services provided since the beginning of the current academic year 2025-2026, at a time when all circle students resume school work for the first semester of the academic year today, after spending the mid-semester break, which is implemented for the first time this year.

A questionnaire launched by schools to coincide with the return of students focuses on measuring the satisfaction of students and their families with the quality of school services and the readiness of the educational environment, to ensure a safe and orderly start that enhances academic achievement.

The questionnaire, designed via the Microsoft platform, and whose details were reviewed by Emirates Today, explained that it does not collect any personal data automatically unless the participant enters it himself, and students are asked to write down the student’s name and number, then select the grade and section from a list covering grades nine to 12, including advanced tracks.

The questionnaire focuses on the readiness of the most important facilities and services for the school day, through a set of “yes/no” questions, including school buses, the quality of air conditioning work, cleanliness, commitment to arriving on time, and the classroom environment: cleanliness and air conditioning of the classroom, adequate lighting, and textbooks to ensure that books are received, as well as school safety, and emphasis on evacuation training in the time of a fire. Sports activities and the availability of football fields within the school.

The questionnaire also surveys the quality of meals in the canteen with evaluative options, such as “adequate” and “fairly adequate,” and leaves ample room for writing proposals for development, to document qualitative observations that contribute to raising the level of service.

School administrations explained that the goal of monitoring is to follow up on daily indicators of services since the first day after mid-semester vacation, and to address any observations related to corridors, buildings, facilities, buses, and classrooms, in order to ensure the safety of students and create a healthy and stimulating educational environment. The survey results will be analyzed on an ongoing basis to take immediate and lasting improvement measures during the remaining weeks of the semester.

Students in public and private schools, which implement the Ministry of Education’s curriculum, will resume school hours today, after spending the mid-semester vacation of the current academic year, which lasted a week (from the 13th to the 19th of October for students, and from the 16th to the 19th of the same month for the administrative and educational staff).

The teaching, administrative and technical bodies also underwent specialized training programmes, for a period of three days from October 13-15, in accordance with the new structure adopted by the Ministry of Education and implemented for the first time in the current academic year.

The students are scheduled to take the trial exam from the 17th to the 19th of next November, according to the calendar approved by the Ministry of Education, with the end-of-first semester exams being from the 20th to the 28th of the same month, and temporarily suspended for the National Day holiday on the second and third of next December, and then resuming on the fourth and fifth of the same month.

The week, extending from the eighth to the 12th of next December, will also witness the organization of make-up exams for the first semester, coinciding with the third program of specialized training for the educational and administrative staff.

Winter vacation for students begins from December 8 to January 4, 2026, while educational and administrative staff receive their winter vacation from December 15 to January 4, 2026, allowing a period of planning and preparation for the second semester.