If you lead inclusion in an Abu Dhabi private school, the Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) sets the rules you work under. This page explains, in plain language, what the policy asks for, what changed recently, and what a school needs to have in place to show it. It is a guide, not the policy text: the wording that binds you is ADEK's own, so read the current version on ADEK's site and keep a dated copy in your inclusion file.
Who the policy covers
ADEK's starting point is the UAE's federal definition of a person of determination in Federal Law No. 29 of 2006, which describes a temporary or permanent, full or partial limitation in physical, sensory, mental, communicational, educational or psychological abilities that restricts ordinary activity. In practice the policy reaches further than a diagnosis. Coverage of the policy announced in 2024 describes it as applying to any student with additional learning needs, diagnosed or not. That single sentence matters for every teacher: a child does not need a report before the school owes them a response.
Admissions: a place cannot simply be refused
The most discussed change is admissions. A school may not turn a student away only because it says it cannot accommodate them. If a school genuinely believes it cannot meet a child's needs, it must put that in writing to ADEK with evidence, through what is described as an inability-to-accommodate notification. ADEK's inclusion team reviews the case and can uphold the school's view or overturn it, in which case the school is expected to admit the student and is guided on the accommodations required.
For a head of inclusion this changes the paperwork you keep before a decision is made, not after. A refusal needs a record of what was assessed, what support was considered, what the school already provides to similar learners, and why the gap is real rather than inconvenient. Schools that already document their graduated response for existing pupils will find this far easier than schools that start from a blank page.
Staffing: inclusion teachers and inclusion assistants
Reporting on the policy describes two staffing shifts. First, the people who lead support are inclusion teachers: qualified educators, not support staff relabelled. Second, the role families used to call a shadow teacher is now an inclusion assistant, and it is permitted where a student needs assistance for at least half of the school day. Schools are also expected to have a specialised inclusion team rather than one person carrying the whole load.
The practical test for a school is simple to state and hard to fake: can you show who is on the inclusion team, what each person is qualified to do, which students they support, and how often that support is reviewed?
Support beyond the classroom
ADEK's own page on education for people of determination sets out four strands: mainstream inclusion in private and charter schools; in-school specialist services, which means therapy such as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and psychotherapy delivered on school premises; family support and welfare, including parental guidance and mediation; and specialised provision for students whose needs go beyond what a mainstream school can offer. Schools can also apply to ADEK for assistive technology, with a Braille machine given as the example in policy coverage.
The deadline
Coverage of the policy gives schools until September 2026 to comply. If you are reading this after that date, treat the requirements as current. If you are reading it before, the sensible order is: admissions procedure and inability-to-accommodate template first, then the inclusion team structure, then the evidence record for every supported pupil.
What "evidence" looks like day to day
Inspectors and ADEK reviewers rarely ask for a philosophy. They ask for records. The records that answer almost every question are the same four:
- An inclusion register listing every student with additional learning needs, the nature of the need, the level of support and the date of the last review.
- An individual plan for each student who receives targeted or specialist support, with a small number of measurable targets and a named person responsible for each.
- A log of what was tried and what happened, kept by the people who actually teach the child, so the next review is a conversation about evidence rather than memory.
- Communication with the family, dated, including what the parents asked for and what the school agreed.
Nooravi exists because most of that record is still kept in scattered documents that nobody has time to update. When strategies, tracking and the plan live in one place, the policy stops being a compliance burden and becomes the way the school already works.
Sources
- ADEK — Education for People of Determination
- UAE Government — Education for people of determination (Federal Law No. 29 of 2006; Ministerial Resolution No. 647 of 2020)
- Coverage of the policy announcement: Khaleej Times, 4 March 2025, "Abu Dhabi schools 'cannot just reject a student'"
This page describes policy as publicly reported and is not legal advice. Check the current policy text on ADEK's website before relying on any detail.