The Department of Education and Knowledge (Adek) has issued necessary guidelines to be followed by all operators of nurseries to ensure the health and wellbeing of children attending nurseries across the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

In a statement issued on Adek website, the Department has called on all nurseries to maintain the highest standards of health and safety across the nursery building at all times. It is mandatory for operators to maintain indoor and outdoor spaces within the nursery buildings to accommodate all children with safety.

Furthermore, all staff members must be aware of the significance of compliance with the safety requirements as well as its impact on the learning environment in the nursery.

The Adek has classified the health and safety requirements for nurseries in Abu Dhabi into three main areas:

Main site

Under this category, nursery must be located away from loud noise in a quiet area to protect children from any danger on their way to the school as well as on their way back home.

The location of the nursery must be appropriate and close to other buildings while maintaining a healthy environment.

The building

The nursery must be instituted on the ground floor or the first floor of an apartment building. It could also be located within a villa containing of one or two floors at most.

The building must be well-maintained and must meet the hygienic requirements. It must be equipped with the necessary fire-fighting gears.

It is important for nurseries to obtain a certificate from the municipality confirming that the building is appropriate and in good condition to function as a nursery in Abu Dhabi. It must be spacious enough to accommodate specified number of children.

In addition, the building rooms, play areas and other facilities for the children must be divided and clarified according to certain metrics and standards set by the authorities. Each room must contain windows for ventilator and clean carpeting to comply with general hygiene and wellbeing standards.

Health rights of the child

The Department prioritises the provision of a healthy learning environment for children. In this regard, the Adek is continuously working towards monitoring and ensuring compliance with safety standards across all nurseries in Abu Dhabi. The Department considers “Wadeema” Law as the main reference to confirm the guidelines and procedures guaranteeing the health rights of children which are clearly defined in its fourth chapter.

According to the chapter 4 of Federal Law No. 3 of 2016 also knowns as “Wadeema”, here are some of the mandatory guidelines and requirements to be followed by nurseries in Abu Dhabi to maintain a healthy environment for children:

- Take necessary precautions to prevent pollution hazards and the spreading of diseases. Ensure relevant measures to handle any form of infection among children.

- Take preventative measures and play an active role to enhance the knowledge and awareness among children about the healthy lifestyle and nutrition. Other stakeholders, including parents and teachers must be informed about the importance and benefits of breast feeding, prevention of diseases, accidents, harmful effects of smoking, following protocols among other things.

- Take necessary action to prevent and protect children from the use drugs, intoxicants, stimulants and other types of psychotropic substances. They must be informed against contributing to the production, promotion or trading of drugs and other psychotropic substances.

- Support the school health system in preventing, treating and enhancing healthy guidance.

- Take necessary action to prevent infectious, dangerous and chronic diseases among children and provide critical vaccinations and immunisations to eligible pupils.

- Develop programs to train mother and child healthcare workers in order to prepare them about the objectives of this law.

- Promote psychological care including mental, social and linguistic development of children.

- Take necessary measures to enhance early detection and diagnosis of children with disabilities and chronic diseases.