Abu Dhabi: Up to Dh250,000 fine for schools violating back-to-school rules

• Adek has conducted more than 200 compliance inspection visits to private and charter schools.

Abu Dhabi private schools that fail to submit daily compliance self-check reports to education regulators in the emirate, when pupils return to campuses for physical learning on August 29, could be fined up to Dh250,000, authorities have warned. The Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (Adek) on Saturday said it has conducted more than 200 compliance inspection visits to private and charter schools across the emirate to ensure their readiness to safely welcome pupils back to in-class education for the academic year 2021-22. Over an intensive two weeks, Adek’s health and safety team conducted inspection visits to 221 Abu Dhabi schools that successfully received a ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) to reopen. Ahead of the new academic year, the emirate’s private and charter schools were advised of mandatory adherence to a comprehensive health and safety compliance checklist in order to obtain an NOC permitting their reopening. Schools that failed to meet the strict compliance protocols were given three calendar days to rectify areas of non-compliance before being visited again by Adek’s health and safety team, and were offered three opportunities to establish readiness. “Had any school failed their third compliance inspection, they would have been denied the option to reopen for face-to-face learning, and been required to return school fees to parents who could have opted to transfer their children to an alternative school,” Adek said in a statement. Once operational, Abu Dhabi schools are required to submit daily compliance self-check reports to Adek and are regularly inspected by the department’s compliance inspectors. Adek has warned that fines for non-compliance violations range from Dh10,000 to Dh250,000.