The UAE Ministry of Education has announced that students will attend up to five hours of classes during Ramadan.

According to a statement issued to local Arabic media, the ministry said that the new Ramadan school timings will commence on Sunday, 28th May, 2017.

“The school day during the month of Ramadan in all schools will be a maximum of five hours,” announced the ministry.

It also stated that boys’ schools will start at 8 AM, while girls’ schools and pupils in kindergarten will start at 9 AM.

Schools have also been instructed to stop carrying out physical exercise (PE) classes or any other demanding physical activities during Ramadan. Additionally, students are prohibited from exposure to heat to avoid the risk of exhaustion and dehydration.

The morning assembly will be also cancelled, while five minutes of the first class will be allocated for the national anthem, according to the ministry. Breaks will be reduced to 10 minutes and classes will be carried out up to a maximum of 40 minutes each.

The Ramadan timings will be observed until the end of the school term 2016-2017, on 22nd June.