ADEK: Parents are Required to Ensure their Child Is Enrolled in a Licensed Nursery, Affirms the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge

The Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) is confirming licensing requirements required from nurseries as part of their role to license and monitor all 244 nurseries in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

 

There are currently 194 nurseries (10,776 students) in Abu Dhabi, 43 (2,681) in the Al Ain Region and seven (253) in the Al Dhafra Region, all of which have already been familiarized with ADEK’s licensing criteria’s and policies. 

 

ADEK aims to reach out to all parents with regards to ensuring they enroll their children to a licensed nursery. 

 

“All nurseries have been instructed to display their nursery license in the reception area, visible to the eye for parents to see. Additionally, nurseries must renew their license on yearly basis. They must start the process at least two months prior to the expiry date of their license,” affirmed Dr. Sara Al Suwaidi, ADEK’s Early Childhood Education (ECE) Licensing Director.

 

“It is of pivotal importance that parents have access to all licensing requirements related to nurseries in order to ensure they enroll their child in a licensed nursery. There is a trained and qualified ECE team that pays visits to nurseries frequently in order to ensure compliance with academic health and safety and overall licensing requirements, with emphasis on child’s safety, hygiene and overall level of early education,” emphasized Dr. Al Suwaidi.

 

Dr. Al Suwaidi further added: “It is part of ADEK’s role to ensure the early childhood years are based on a solid foundation. We look forward to hearing that all preschoolers are prepared to move onto the next level of schooling, and this can only be done through a safe, secure, well-rounded licensed nursery that has qualified staff and a well-established curriculum.” 

 

Some of ADEK’s nursery licensing procedures include recruiting qualified and licensed principals and staff; complying with ADEK’s Occupational Health and Safety requirements in relations to capacity, safety and hygiene; children at the nursery must be between the ages of 45 days and four years; the nursery must use an established curriculum; all nurseries must implement policies which are available for parents and stakeholders to access; each child must have a medical record at the nursery clinic, which must be regularly updated; fees must be approved by ADEK, and refund policy must be implemented by the nursery. If parents wish to withdraw their child from the nursery.

 

 

Some of the academic and compliance areas that nurseries are expected to focus on include: Instructional Support: refers to how teachers develop children’s understanding of concepts and ideas through quality feedback, language modelling and higher order thinking opportunities; Classroom Organization: refers to the staff ability to effectively manage children’s behavior and increase engagement through a variety of instructional learning formats in order to maximize learning time.

 

Additionally, Emotional Support, which refers to the nursery’s culture, teacher’s response to individual children’s emotional needs and consideration of children’s perspectives; Personal Care Routines: refers to the procedures that are followed for toileting and diapering for each age group and the sanitary health practices that are followed to ensure a healthy nursery environment. Additional ADEK’s standards and requirements include healthy habits, periodic pest control, healthy preparation and storage of food, breastfeeding awareness programs, risk assessment, CCTV monitoring, securing doors and windows at all times, regularly checking fire alarm system, evacuation plans and emergency exits, providing fire-fighting equipment and regular maintenance, school bus safety, and providing First Aid training to all nursery staff. 

 

Space and Furnishing are pivotal since they determine how the space, furniture, furnishings and equipment in the indoor and outdoor areas of the nursery are utilized in a purposeful age appropriate manner.

 

Learning Activities are also part of the compliance process since they focus on the variety and quality of activities provided for children (i.e. Fine motor, Art, Music, Blocks, Dramatic Play, Nature/Science, Math) and the manner in which staff engage with children during the activities, in addition to Language and Literacy, which refer to how the nursery provides children with meaningful opportunities and experiences to engage with books, print and resources that foster their language and literacy development.   

 

Developing high quality learning environment and academic programs is amongst ADEK’s top priorities, where an integrated innovative education system is placed in order to support the UAE’s knowledge based economy. Nursery Licensing Criteria and Policies Program comes as one of the main factors for enhancing the quality of education outcomes in all levels and for all learners.