2025-2026 school guidelines explained

When the new Ministry of Education attendance policy was released earlier this year, media outlets were quick to zero in on a concerning new clause:

"Students who have more than 15 unexcused absences during the academic year shall not be promoted. Fridays and the two days before or after official holidays are counted as two days.”

An example of a headline about this 'new' policy

Along with reporting this new clause, it was also stated by many articles that parents who violated this would have their case 'referred to the competent authorities', causing many to fear legal consequences for their child's absences. However, a closer reading of the new guidelines reveals a different story. Although this clause does exist, it isn't anything new, and its scope and severity have been highly exaggerated. The only change to the guidelines has nothing to do with attendance, and could positively affect expat children around the country.

"15 day absence" clause

As mentioned, this clause is nothing new, and has been present in previous guidelines, along with other guidelines like a minimum overall (including excused absences) attendance rate of 65% for promotion. To further understand the limited scope of this guideline, we must understand how schools are regulated in the UAE.

MoE guidelines affect only public schools and MoE-curriculum private schools. International private schools are not regulated by the MoE. Each emirate has their own regulatory body for international private schools, like ADEK in Abu Dhabi and KHDMA in Dubai, and none of those groups have instated the same policy in their guidelines.

Public vs private schools in Dubai

In short, the rule isn’t new and hasn’t changed, it’s simply being restated in the annual MoE handbook. And most likely, unless your child is in an Arabic-language school following MoE curriculum, it has never affected them and never will.

New clause on equivalency

There is a change in the guidelines compared to last year. Not in the assessment policy like the previous one was, but in the equivalency policy. Now, students without an Arab passport can attain equivalency without taking the mandatory MoE General Education Arabic Exam in their final year of school.

Equivalency is the recognition of a private school student as having met UAE educational standards. It is required for all people educated in the UAE who want to remain studying/working in the UAE after graduating high school; otherwise, they will find themselves applying for a job or university without even a high school diploma.

This is excellent news for international students as it means a potential language barrier will not prevent them from working in the UAE.

Note the 'for Arab students', which is dependent on your passport. If your child has dual citizenship, their Emirates ID will have to be registered on their non-Arab passport to be exempt from this.

How to handle disputes

The MoE and every other regulatory body of education all have web portals to file complaints. If you feel that an attendance policy is being enforced unfairly against you or your child, you can make a complaint through those means. However, ensure you are contacting the group that regulates your specific school. If you are the parent of a public school student this is certainly the MoE, but it may take some brief research if you are the parent of a private school student.

Overall, while sensational headlines may have disrupted many families and raised concerns, please feel assured that all is as it was, and your child can skip as much school as they desire. (Although they probably shouldn't.)

Further reading:

MoE 2025-2026 assessment policy

MoE 2025-2026 equivalency policy