KHDA April Fools: School Will Start at ‘Whenever’

Dubai’s private education authority, the KHDA, has delivered another April Fool’s Day joke, with a satirical take on the further reduced Ramadan hours for UAE schools this year.

The education authority, which has been known for its entertaining and irreverent tweets, made light of the plans in a social media post this morning:

‘To improve wellbeing this Ramadan, school timings have changed. In line with students’ recommendations, schools will start at ‘whenever’ and finish at ‘soon after that’. Staying awake is optional for both students and teachers.’

While the majority of KHDA’s social media followers responded in a similarly lightheartedly fashion, some failed to see the humour and expressed frustration at the issue of reduced hours in general.

One follower commented:

“What’s next? No more school? Timings are getting more and more ridiculous. So during Ramadan, I will be fasting and my kid will be back at home earlier meanwhile the school staff will enjoy more free time. Insane.”

Another remarked:

“What’s this ridiculousness… don’t expect this from the KHDA.”

The holy month of Ramadan is expected to begin on the evening of Saturday 2nd April, ending in the evening of Monday 2nd May. This means school hours will be affected from Monday 11th April, when schools resume following spring break, for a period of 3 weeks.

In previous years, the UAE’s education authorities have directed schools to reduce their timings to 5 hours per day during Ramadan. However, the change in the UAE’s working week from 5 days to 4.5 days means that the school week will be further reduced this Ramadan, with schools open for only 3 hours on Fridays.