Enrolling children in Abu Dhabi’s public schools has been made easier as parents can now register their children online, without visiting schools.
The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) on Wednesday (15th February, 2017) said that they have introduced a new enrollment process starting with the academic year 2017-2018, which allows parents to register children online from anywhere through the ADEC’s website.

ADEC officials announced at a Press conference on Wednesday that registration for new Emirati children for kindergarten to Grade 12 will be from 19th February to 17th March, and for expatriate children from 19th-23rd March.

Officials said about 10,000 new students are expected to join public schools across Abu Dhabi during the next academic year with up to 20 per cent of these expected to be expatriates. Mohammad Salem Al Dhaheri, ADEC’s School Operations Executive Director, said the ADEC was keen on providing parents with accurate and detailed information regarding the school registration process. “Schools are ready to assist parents in completing the registration process online on ADEC’s website www.adec.ac.ae using a student’s Emirates ID via an ID card reader,” said Al Dhaheri. “This will allow parents to register their children from anywhere.”

Humaid Abdullah, Adec’s Students Affairs Division Manager, said: “Parents should register their children early so that adequate supplies could be ordered and plans could be finalised in time before the start of the next school year.

“We want parents to make use of the online registration system because it is easy and will save their time.” For online registration of Emirati pupils, parents are required to provide these documents: Original copies of a student’s Emirates ID and the parent’s Emirates ID and proof of residence such as a lease contract, property ownership or electricity bill.

The online system will show parents the school nearest their home and how many seats are left. “Parents can only register their children in schools located near their homes,” said Abdulla. “For parents who are unable to find a place for their children in the school of choice, the system will show them a list of schools in their proximity and with available places from which they could choose.”

Registering for the waiting list will no longer be required. Parents registering expatriate pupils in public schools require to submit their Emirates ID through the ID reader, according to available vacancies and student density. The total number of expat students enrolled should not exceed 20 per cent of the total number in each public school and in each classroom, according to Adec.

Registration for public schools is free for Emiratis. Expat pupils must be able to speak and write in Arabic and have an average academic score of 90 per cent. There is also an annual fee of Dh6,000 for expat students. The minimum age requirement for children joining KG 1 is four by December 31, 2017. Those enrolling in Grade1 must be six years old by the end of this year.