Requiring private schools to keep student records for 5 years after graduation

The Department of Education and Knowledge in Abu Dhabi has obligated private schools to keep 10 types of detailed information in each student’s record, for a period of no less than five years after the student leaves school, and it is preferable for them to keep them in the electronic archive, while the school is committed to keeping students’ graduation records for an indefinite period. Named.

In detail, the Department of Education and Knowledge confirmed – in the records policy that it recently issued and circulated to schools, a copy of which was obtained by Emirates Today – that creating and maintaining clear, complete, accurate, and up-to-date records is necessary to enable the school to perform its functions efficiently.

In addition, the law obliges schools in the country when processing and storing records that contain personal data to comply with the laws related to data protection, noting that the new policy specifies the minimum requirements that schools must adhere to when creating and managing records.

The types of information that schools must maintain in the individual records of each student include personal data (name, date of birth, gender, nationality, guardian data, address, contact data), attendance record, record of academic progress and achievements, and record of participation in extracurricular activities and achievements. A record of behavioral incidents, a record of documented learning plans, especially for students with additional educational needs, a record of cases related to student protection, a record of medical information, and a record that includes a copy of any reports containing student information that were submitted to the Department of Education and Knowledge, the guardian, or any of the Concerned persons, in addition to a record of any other requirements as required by the department.

The new policy obligates schools to create detailed, updated and confidential individual medical records for students, and to maintain them in accordance with the requirements of the Department of Health, in particular school examination standards. The school nurse must create a record for new students enrolled in kindergarten or first grade/second year and for students transferring from other schools. Do not provide school health services (for example, students transferring from a school outside the Emirates), and schools must allow parents to access their children’s records based on At their request. At the same time, schools must not copy or remove student records from the school clinic.

The new policy also obligates schools to obtain the necessary approvals from the Department of Health and parents, as well as notify the department regarding everything related to sharing students’ medical records based on any external requests, and to ensure that school physical education teachers and coaches can access students’ medical records to view cases. Individual medical care that could affect their school sports, and to be able to deal with any incidents that may arise.

The Department warned schools that failure to comply with this policy will expose the school to legal accountability and penalties applied in accordance with the regulations, policies and requirements of the Department of Education and Knowledge, without prejudice to the penalties imposed by the law, noting that this policy is considered effective from the beginning of the current academic year, and schools are expected to be compliant. This policy will be fully compliant with the beginning of the next academic year 2025-2026.

. Information that schools are required to keep includes personal data, attendance records, and a record of academic progress and achievements.