Useful Tips When Enrolling Your Child on UAE Schools

If you’re currently working and living in Dubai, and you’re lucky enough to be able to sponsor your family to live with you – the chances are that you want your child enrolled in one of the schools around the UAE. However, the process of enrolling your child on an institution can be confusing and hard, especially if you’re in a foreign country.

Furthermore, expats who have their child/children in the UAE can only attend private institutions, since government-sponsored institutions are only accessible by Emiratis. In this article, we would provide a step-by-step guide on how to enroll your child in a school in the United Arab Emirates.

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Step-by-step Guide When Enrolling Your Child on UAE Schools

A school based in the UAE would have a total of three terms per year, namely:

1. Autumn, would be from the middle of September up to the middle of December.
2. Spring, would start in January and end in April.
3. Lastly, the summer term would start in the middle of April and end in July.

School time range from a variety of times, several schools open at 8 am and dismiss students at 2 pm, while some dismiss their students at 3 pm. Educational institutions are open on Sundays up to Thursdays.

Below are the required documents and a step-by-step procedure to enroll your child in the UAE.

A. Prerequisites

• Your child must be aged between 3 to 18 years old.
• Must be a resident of the UAE

B. Required Documents

1. Application form (school)
2. Eight copies of a passport-size photo of the student
3. Parent’s passport together with a residence visa
4. Child’s passport
5. Child’s residence visa
6. Child’s Emirati ID (resident ID)
7. Birth certificate of your child (English or Arabic)
8. Entrance test or diagnostic test
9. School records for the past two years
10. Child’s medical records
11. School transfer certificate in English or Arabic (applicable for children aged above five years old).

Furthermore, if your child’s documents aren’t written in English or Arabic, then you should head to your country’s nearest consulate or embassy to have it translated and verified.

If your child is currently attending an institution around the UAE, and you want to transfer him/her on another school, then a transfer certificate should be verified by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority or KHDA located in Dubai. However, if your child is from a foreign school, then it should be checked by the Ministry of Education’s Department of Foreign Affairs, and the embassy of the UAE would release the transfer certificate.

Process:

1. Visit the school of your choice, ask for an application form and fill all the necessary details. Furthermore, most institutions on the UAE has an online website, in which you can apply for an application.
2. The child must then take an entrance or diagnostic test, to evaluate his or her skills. The type of test would vary on the age of the student and the subjects offered.
3. Pay the indicated amount for the application. Remember that the application fee may vary on the school chosen.
4. If the child passed all the tests and the application has been accepted, you would then need to submit all necessary documents and pay necessary fees.

Important Reminders:

• You should always consider the school that would both offer quality education and give comfort to your child.
• You should start applying to different schools six months before your child’s arrival in the UAE.
• Have at least 2 to 3 copies of all the documents needed for the enrollment of your child.

Your child’s education is the most important thing for his or her future, and the first step on doing so is enrolling your child to the best school possible to get a quality education. With this article, we hope that you have learned a thing or two about the things you should consider and how to enroll your child in a school based in the UAE at ease.