ADEK
The authority regulating schools in Abu Dhabi emirate, including Al Ain and the Al Dhafra region. It publishes its own inclusion policy for private schools.
Why ADEK matters.
If your child is at a private school in Abu Dhabi emirate and the school says it cannot meet their needs, ADEK is the body that sets the expectations that school is working to. The national framing applies here as everywhere in the UAE — children with additional needs are students of determination, and inclusion is framed as the school's obligation rather than a family's private problem to solve.
None of this is legal advice, and we are not lawyers. What we can tell you is that these conversations move when they are in writing and attached to a specific assessed need, and stall when they are a disagreement about impressions.
Questions that get a real answer
- Can I have the school's position in writing, with the reason?
- What would the school need in order to say yes?
- Who is the inclusion lead, and can we meet?
Ask these of anyone, including us. What you are listening for is not the right answer — it is whether the answer is specific enough to be wrong.
Terms that usually turn up alongside it.
Baseline
What a child can do before support starts, measured rather than described. Without one, nobody can prove
GlossaryBCBA
An internationally certified behaviour analyst, qualified to design and supervise behaviour programmes. The
GlossaryDevelopmental delay
Reaching milestones significantly later than expected, in one area or several. A description of where a child
Send it to us and we'll translate it.
Any report, from any provider, including ones we have nothing to do with. We will tell you in plain English what it says, what it recommends, and which parts are actually supported by the evidence in it. No charge, and it does not make you a client.