Sharjah students who travelled to foreign countries during the winter break have been asked to undergo a mandatory quarantine of 14 days. They are also required to present a negative PCR test result before physically resuming classes in the school campuses. Sharjah authorities announced these new measures on Wednesday in order to ensure compliance with safety measures when schools resume classes in the coming weeks.

As public schools in the UAE are set to reopen for a new academic term on January 3, Sharjah Private Education Authority (SPEA) is working on finalising a learning model that will work best for all schools in the emirate. According to a SPEA official, the authority is in talks with all school managements in the emirate to chalk out the learning model best suited for these schools during the new academic term.

Private schools in Sharjah have been given an option to resume their classes through distance learning for the first two weeks of January. A number of schools have already confirmed the implementation of the distance learning model in their campuses.

Some schools have also allowed parents to choose the best learning mode for their children. They can either opt for hybrid learning that will allow students to sit in classes or continue with e-learning. Parents are required to send an e-mail to the school administration in case they decide to change their learning mode.

Speaking to media, director of a private American school in Sharjah confirmed that they will implement remote learning for the first two weeks of January in line with the guidelines issued by the authorities. For those students who have opted for hybrid learning mode and face-to-face classes, classes on the campuses will begin on January 17.

Samer Sarhane, director of Al Maarifa International Private School, also called on the students who returned from abroad to undergo strict quarantine and perform COVID-19 test before attending classes on the campus.

He states that these measures have been taken to ensure that students and their parents along with teaching and administrative who travelled to foreign countries during the break get ample time to follow quarantine measures before returning to school for the new academic term.