Many of the children who went back to school in the UAE yesterday hardly remember life before the Covid-19 pandemic. The youngest pupils have come to know only a socially distanced school life that toggles between physical and virtual classrooms; the steady reintroduction of in-person teaching in the UAE and other countries is an effort at “back to normal” for parents and the school system, but a new normal for them.
Getting there is critical, given how many formative experiences young children have missed out on, but it is not without huge challenges. Two years on from the start of the pandemic, education in most countries remains a stop-start affair. Monday’s return to classes in the UAE was meant to be a fresh start in many ways – the start of a new year, a new term and a new Monday-to-Friday teaching schedule in most of the country’s schools. But as The National reported, more than 30 private schools in Dubai alone were forced to switch to distance learning for the next week, after several members of the schools’ communities had either tested positive for Covid-19 or come into close contact with someone who had. If the 2020-2021 school year was one of a great shift to remote learning, this year’s will be one of constant adapting and readapting to society’s unpredictable post-Covid-19 recovery.
Luckily few are better practiced at the art of adaptation than parents. When several staff members at Dubai College, one of the UAE’s oldest independent schools, tested positive this week, parents with professional teaching qualifications volunteered to cover their shifts. It is an extraordinary example of the kind of sacrifices and efforts being made by parents all over the country to maintain their children’s education and well-being throughout constant shifts in school and work schedules over the course of the pandemic.
Few are better practiced at the art of adaptation than parents
In Abu Dhabi, private schools announced a switch to distance learning for at least the first two weeks of the new term, with the hope of a return to classrooms when the current wave of the pandemic subsides. School administrators and education authorities in the emirate have put in place new safeguards to ensure students’ health when they return.
For instance, the Al Hosn app, the mobile phone application used to record UAE residents’ vaccinations, PCR tests and green passes, now provides parents with information on the vaccination rates of the student body at their children’s school. A colour-coded grading system, based on the vaccination levels, regulates to what extent schools can switch back to in-person education and what activities will be allowed when they do. For instance, schools with fewer than 65 per cent of students vaccinated may only hold grade-level events (e.g. events for all fifth-graders), whereas those with more than 85 per cent vaccinated can hold school-wide events, like assemblies.
Editorials from The National
Getting education back to a place where children can live normal childhoods without putting themselves or their parents and teachers at risk is, clearly, fraught with challenges. Raising children – pandemic or no pandemic – tends to be that way. But success is the result of the community – parents, teachers, school administrators and government officials – pulling together in children’s best interests. Judging by the way school communities have pulled together in the UAE in recent months, prospects for the country’s students appear promising.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ballon d’Or shortlists
Men
Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool), Sergio Aguero (Aregentina/Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (Netherlans/Barcelona), Hugo Lloris (France/Tottenham), Dusan Tadic (Serbia/Ajax), Kylian Mbappe (France/PSG), Trent Alexander-Arnold (England/Liverpool), Donny van de Beek (Netherlands/Ajax), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon/Arsenal), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany/Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Juventus), Alisson (Brazil/Liverpool), Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands/Juventus), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands/Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool), Bernardo Silva (Portugal/Manchester City), Son Heung-min (South Korea/Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (Brazil/Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria/Manchester City), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal/Napoli), Antoine Griezmann (France/Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool), Eden Hazard (BEL/Real Madrid), Marquinhos (Brazil/Paris-SG), Raheem Sterling (Eengland/Manchester City), Joao Félix(Portugal/Atletico Madrid)
Women
Sam Kerr (Austria/Chelsea), Ellen White (England/Manchester City), Nilla Fischer (Sweden/Linkopings), Amandine Henry (France/Lyon), Lucy Bronze(England/Lyon), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands/Arsenal), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany/Lyon), Pernille Harder (Denmark/Wolfsburg), Sarah Bouhaddi (France/Lyon), Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC), Lieke Martens (Netherlands/Barcelona), Sari van Veenendal (Netherlands/Atletico Madrid), Wendie Renard (France/Lyon), Rose Lavelle(USA/Washington Spirit), Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride), Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Lyon), Kosovare Asllani (Sweden/CD Tacon), Sofia Jakobsson (Sweden/CD Tacon), Tobin Heath (USA/Portland Thorns)
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Specs
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Range: 400km
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The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
AIR
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The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight Championship AJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Chris Jericho
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v tba
