Federal Law No. (5) for the year 1983 Regarding Nurseries

We, Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan, President of the United Arab Emirates, and after taking cognizance of the Temporary Constitution, the Federal law No. (11) for the year 1972, regarding the faculties of the Ministries and the powers of the Ministers and its amending laws, the federal law No. (19) for the year 1972 regarding the regulation of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, amended by the Cabinet’s decree No. (5) for the year 1979. And as per the application of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and the approval of the Federal Supreme Council,. We have issued the following law:

ARTICLE (1)

In executing the rules and provisions of this law, the meaning of the used terms and expressions is as follows:

• The Minister: Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.
• The Ministry: Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
• The Competent Department: Department of Social Care in the Ministry.

ARTICLE (2)

The Nursery, as per this law, means any appropriate place designated for taking care of the children who are under the age of 4, including the Nurseries that are associated with or incorporated in schools. This law does not apply to the following:

• the Nurseries which are established by the foreign countries or the international bodies in the UAE as per the cultural agreements concluded between them.
• Nurseries whose work is confined to teaching officials of a country’s Diplomatic and Consular representation bodies.

ARTICLE (3)

Nurseries are established for the purpose of taking care of children and upbringing them in the proper and sound manner through rendering the following services.

• Temporary stay as required by the applicant.
• Development of children’s feelings and perception of education
• Islamic values and social habits and customs.
• Providing full medical care.
• Providing the necessary meals.
• Training Arab children on the sound Arabic pronunciation. Training children on chanting anthems and playing games conforming to their age.

ARTICLE (4)

It is not allowed for any person or any other authority to establish nurseries, to change their locations or to adjust their specifications with out getting prior permit from the Ministry as per the conditions and procedures specified in this law.

ARTICLE (5)

Nurseries should meet the following conditions:-

First: Location:-

• the nursery should be located in a quiet area where the children are not exposed to any perils.
• the place should be suitable, close to building and in a healthy environment.

Second: The Building:-

• The nursery should be on the ground or the first floor of a building consisting of several flats, or in Villas consisting of one or two floors at most.
• The building should be in good condition as per the medical conditions and it should be equipped with fire fighting equipment.
• A certificate must be obtained from the Municipality proving that the building is appropriate for the said purpose.
• The capacity of the building and the number of its rooms should be appropriate to hold the designated number of children.
• The building should have meet the health conditions through the provision of facilities, ventilation, lighting and air-conditioning.
• Each room should have the necessary number of windows which must be conversed be wires, the floor should be covered be clean carpets and all the walls should be clean.
• Suitable place should be available for the practices of activates.

The Minister has the right to add whatever condition be deems necessary.

ARTICLE (6)

The owner of the nursery should meet the following conditions:

• he should be a U.A.E. National, even though the Minister may exempt him from his condition if he sees that are ample reasons to justify this exemption.
• He should be a legal citizen.
• He should not be sentenced to any punishment for committing a crime of dishonesty or breach of faith unless he is rehabilitated or is granted amnesty by the competent authorities within the crimes that can be granted such amnesty.
• He should be of good conduct and reputation.
• He should be capable of fulfilling the financial requirements of the nurery.

If the owner is a legal person, he should be a U. A.E. national.

ARTICLE (7)

The person employed for supervising or managing the nursery should meet the following conditions.

• He should be a U.A.E. or Arab National, eventhough the Minister may exempt him from this condition if he sees that there are ample reasons to justify this exemption.
• He should not be sentenced to any punishment for committing a crime of dishonesty of breach of faith unless he is rehabilitated or is granted amnesty be the competent authorities within the crimes that can be granted such amnesty.
• He must be of good conduct and reputation.
• He should be competent and eligible for the supervison and management of the nursery as per the conditions specified in a decision issued by the Minister.

ARTICLE (8)

The application for establishing, changing the location or adjusting the specifications of the nursery should be submitted to the Ministry on a form of three copies provided by the Ministry and attached to the approved certificates and documents. The Ministry prepares a register for the registration of the said application under serial numbers and it gives the concerned person a receipt showing the date on which it receives the application.

ARTICLE (9)

The Competent Department at the Ministry studies the application in light of the requirements of the area and its opinion in granting the permit within thirty days form date of submitting the application. The Minister issues his decision to approve or reject the application within fifteen days, indicating the reasons of this rejection, and the applicant.

Is informed about the issued decision in this regard.

ARTICLE (10)

The applicant has the right to complain to the Minister about the issued decision within thirty days from the date he is informed of it.

ARTICLE (11)

The licensee is obliged, within thirty days following the issue of the licence to issue an internal bill for the nursery to be approved by the Ministry taking into consideration the typical bill issued by the same Ministry. The said internal bill should particularly include the following.

• The administration of the Nursery and the way through which it renders the services entrusted with it, its programmers and the faculties of its employees.
• Conditions of admitting the children to the nursery and registering them at it.
• The fees the nursery gets against taking care of the children.
• The nursery’s financial system.
• The nursery’s working ours and leave schedule.

ARTICLE (12)

Nurseries are subject to the Minister’s technical, administrative and financial supervision. The said Nurseries should keep the registers and files to arrange their work form the technical, administrative and financial aspects as per the forms prepared by the Ministry. The official of the competes Department at the Ministry have the right to study all these registers and files to insure that the nursery executes the provisions of this law and the Ministerial decision which are isposes and fulfill their obligations.

ARTICLE (13)

If ist is clear to the Minister, as per the inspecting reports that the Nursery violated any rules of this law or that of the Ministerial Decision, or that it causes any religious, social, physical or mental abuses to the children, the Ministry will warn the Nursery and will demand the removal of this violation within a period to be fixed by the Ministry. In case that the Nursery continues violating the law or committing the same violation again, the Ministry will warn the Nursery to remove the violation withn seven days, otherwise the Minster will issue an order to close the Nursery for fifteen days.

In case the Nursery continues the same violation or commits it for the third time, the Ministry will warn it to remove the violating within seven days, otherwise the Ministry will issue an order to close the Nursery for a maximum period of one month or permanently.

ARTICLE (14)

The minister has the right to issue an order to close the Nursery administratively if it has been evident that the Nursery or its administration carries our acts against public discipline or good behaviors, and a civil or criminal case is to be lodged if necessary.

ARTICLE (15)

The owner of the Nursery or his representative has the right to complain to the Minister against the decision of closing the Nursery within seven days form the date of the closing order.

The said complaint should be studied within fifteen days from the date of submitting the complaint, the issued decision will be final, and the applicant will be informed.

ARTICLE (16)

The decision of closing the Nursery temporarily of permanently should not take effect except after the expiry of the complaint period or after rejecting it and informing the concerned person about that.

ARTICLE (17)

Nursery established at the time of issuing this law must obtain the required permission as per the ruled of this law within one year from date of issue, otherwise they will be considered as nurseries violating the above rules.

ARTICLE (18)

The Minister issue the necessary decision to execute the rules of the law.

ARTICLE (19)

The law is to be published in the official newspaper and must take effect form the date of publishing.

ZAYED BIN SULTAN AL NAHAYAN
PRESIDENT OF THE UNTED ARAB EMIRATES.
Corresponding to 6th June 1983

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS
CARE & SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
NURSERY SECTION

The Documents Required for Obtaining Nursery Licenses:

• Nursery licensing application.
• The initial approval of H.E. the Minister or the person he deputizes.
• Photocopies of the nursery owner’s passport and passports of the employees.
• A certificate of good conduct granted by the police to the nursery owner and employees.
• Attested photocopies of the nursery owner’s qualification and the qualifications of the employees.
• A photocopy of the partnership agreement in case there are partners in the nursery ownership.
• A list of the members names and jobs in case the nursery has a board of directors.
• A photocopy of the building tenancy contract or ownership certificate obtained from the Municipality.
• A letter from the Municipality indicating the building appropriateness.
• A letter from the Civil Defense Department indicating the building’s compliance with security and safety precautions.
• A diagram showing the nursery’s location – the neighborhood and street it is situated on.
• A photocopy of the licence granted by the Municipality.
• Children’s forms of registration at the nursery.
• A table including the nursery’s admission and transportation fees.
• Maximum and minimum amount of employees salaries.
• A contract concluded between the nursery and recognized health authority for assuming the health supervision of the children admitted to the nursery.
• Visualization of the nursery’s daily program.
• The nursery’s internal legislation.

Ministerial Decision No. (1) of 1989
With the Executive bill of the Federal Law
No. (5) of 1983 on Nurseries

Minister of Labour and Social Affairs

• After taking cognizance of the Federal Law No- (1) of 1972 on the faculties of Ministries and the powers of Ministries and its amending laws,
• The Federal Law No. (9) of 1972 on private schools,
• The Federal Law No. (5) of 1983 on Nurseries,
• The Cabinet’s decision No. (1) of 1977 on the regulations of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and its amending decisions,
• And based on what the Undersecretary of the Ministry Labour and Social affairs presented.

I Issued the Following Decision

Article No. (1)

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs only is authorized to grant licences for the establishment of nurseries all over the U.A.E, and it can coordinate with the Government Department s such as the Municipalities and the Health and Civil Defense Department and others for the purpose of achieving the necessary cooperation for the execution of the Law and utilization of the capabilities of these authorities by providing technical counsel prior to the approval of granting licences for the establishment of nurseries.

Article No (2)

The rules of the above Federal Law No. (5) and its executive Bill apply to all the nurseries established in the U.A.E. whether they are incorporated in companies, governmental establishments or independent schools prior to or after the Law takes effect. However, the rules of the above Law and its Executive Bill do not apply to the following:

• Nurseries established by foreign countries or international bodies in the U.A.E. on the basis of mutual agreements concluded between the U.A.E. and these countries.
• Nurseries whose work is confined to teaching the children of the officials of a state’s diplomatic corps and consular representation.

Article No (3)

Nurseries are considered houses for providing children with social, medical and psychological care up to the age of fourteen. In these nurseries there should be no study unites, but they should focus on the psychomotor activities, giving information, teaching the main habits, customs and Islamic values and the psychological preparation for the post nursery stage. The stages are divided into the following:

• The first stage is the suckling stage extending to the age of two. During this stage there is a concentration of the development of the children’s perceptive, mental and physical capabilities.
• The second stage extends from the age of two to the age of three. During this stage there should be a concentration on the children’s psychological health, the promotion of their feeling of security and teaching them the sound behavioral habits concerning matters related to eating, excretion, organizing their materials and dealing with other people.
• The third stage: This stage extends from the age of 3 to the age of four and during it there should be a concentration on the development of the child’s collective spirit psychomotor activity to construct and form by using clay and other materials which help him create several forms and shapes. The child can be given small educational dosages such as figures, big -size alphabets and coloring for the purpose of preparing him for the post nursery stage.

Article No. (4)

The Arabic language is the main language used in conversation and in giving advice to the Arab children inside, the nurseries, but it is permitted to give an Arab child some foreign vocabulary provided that they do not predominate over the Arabic language. It is also permitted to give a foreign child some Arabic vocabulary.

For the achievement of this purpose, Arab children must be supervised by Arab supervisors and workers.

Article No. (5)

Muslim children must be prevented from preparing for or attending unIslamic ceremonies and parties.

Article No. (6)

Games in the nursery must satisfy the child’s needs according to his mental capabilities and the level of his growth. These games vary according to the child’s age to include the games of the suckling baby, the games inside the nursery halls and the safe in the nursery courtyard, in addition to the artistic activity games, the games that help the children acquire some experiences and the musical games, all of which help achieve the purposes specified in Article No. (3) of this decision.

Article No. (7)

The nursery must meet the following conditions:

First: The Site:

• The nursery must be established on a quiet far away from loud noise where the children are not exposed to any dangers, and it must fully meet all the prerequisites of safety and security as decided by the competent authorities with which there is a coordination in this regard.
• The site of the nursery must be appropriate, close to buildings and must be situated in a healthy environment.

Second: The building

• The nursery must be established on the ground or the first floor of a building comprising several apartment. Moreover, there should be empty spaces around the building to be used for the children’s psychomotor activities, or the nursery could be situated in villas consisting of one or two floors at most and they must have sufficient space for achieving the required purpose.
• The building must have a wide courtyard part of which should be shaded in order to protect children from the rays of the sun and rain, and it must be covered by sand and must be wide enough to hold the number of the children in the nursery.
• The space and area of the building and the number of its rooms must be adequate to hold the specified number of children, the rooms must be distributed according to the children’s age so that every child can occupy and area of one square meter at least, and minimum distance of one meter must be left between beds in the children’s rooms to prevent the spread of diseases among them and to facilitate the process of supervising them.
• The building must be in good condition and must meet the hygienic conditions by having the necessary facilities, ventilation, lighting and air-conditioning. Morever, it must be equipped with the necessary fire fighting equipment.
• A room in the building must be allocated to be used as a medical clinic, and it must be provided with the most important medical equipment necessary for treating the children in addition to the first aid equipment.
• A certificate must be obtained from Municipality indicating that the building is appropriate for this purpose.
• A certificate must be obtained from the competent municipality indicating the ownership of the building, or an authenticated lease contract if the building is rented.

The location of the nursery licensed by the Ministry must not be changed, and no changes must be made to its internal design except after notifying the Ministry and obtaining its approval of that.

The number of nurseries in the various areas is specified in light of the needs of each of these areas and the places are specified as per the agreement of the Ministry’s Undersecretary for Social Affairs on the basis of a proposal by the Ministry competent department.

Article No. (8)

The owner of the nursery must meet the following conditions:

• He must be a U.A.E. national, but the Minister may exempt him from this condition if he finds ample reasons for this exemption, and if this owner is a legal person, he must enjoy the U.A.E nationality.
• He must enjoy the civil eligibility.
• He must not be sentenced to any punishment as a result of committing a crime of dishonesty or breach of faith unless he is rehabilitated or is granted amnesty by the competent authorities within the limits of the crimes that can be granted such amnesty.
• He must be a person of good conduct and reputation.

Article No. (9)

The application for a licence to establish a nursery change its location or modify its specifications must be submitted on the appropriate from provided by the Ministry after meeting the conditions specified in Articles (7) and (8) of this Decision, and all the certificates and documents that support the application should be enclosed.

The Ministry prepares a register for the registration of these applications under serial numbers and gives the concerned person a receipt carrying the date of its receiving the application. Work cannot commence at the nursery before obtaining the licence form the Ministry and this licence cannot be assigned to others except after notifying the Ministry in writing and obtaining its approval of that.

Article No. (10)

The application for a licence to establish a nursery change its location or modify its specifications must be submitted on the appropriate from provided by the Ministry after meeting the conditions specified in Articles (7) and (8) of this Decision, and all the certificates and documents that support the application should be enclosed.

• Official working hours extend from 7a.m. to 2p.m daily, and the nursery can apply to the Ministry for obtaining its permission for work in the evening shift provided that it complies with the following:
  • The non-existence of any person at the nursery after the specified time.
  • The compliance with the condition of age as specified by the Law,
  • Not using the place (the nursery) for any purpose other than the specified one.
  • The nursery’s administration must be fully and directly responsible for what happens inside the nursery, and in case there is a breach of one of the above conditions, the permission granted for work in the evening will be cancelled.
• Friday is an official holiday for all nurseries, and no nursery can have a holiday on any other day.
• The nursery must comply with the weekly, religious and national holidays in the U.A.E whether they are fixed or emergent holidays, and the holidays must be listed in the nursery’s schedule of annual holidays.

Article No. (11)

The licensee must undertake, within thirty days following the issue of the licence, to issue an internal bill for the nursery to be accredited by the Ministry. In doing so, be must comply with the provisions of this decision, and the bill must include the following in particular:

• The system of the nursery’s administration, the method through which it renders the services vested in it, its programmes and the faculties of its employees.
• The conditions of admitting and registering children at the nursery.
• The fees the nursery gets against the care it readers to the children.
• The financial system of the nursery.
• Working hours and leave schedules at the nursery.
• The system pertaining to the nursery’s employees regarding their qualifications, salaries and leaves, etc.
• The system of medical care provided to the children.

Article No. (12)

Nurseries must undertake to keep the necessary register and files for purpose of organizing their work from the technical, administrative and financial aspects, and in particular they must keep the following:

• A special file for every child containing his birth certificate and the application for joining the nursery including his name, nationality, date of birth, date of joining the nursery, and parents place of work, residence address and telephone numbers in addition to social and medical reports indicating the child’s condition upon entering the nursery, to be followed by a monthly report indication the extent of the child’s progress throughout the stages of his life, the problems he faces and the methods followed for solving them.
• An independent file for every employee working at the nursery containing photocopies of all his certificates and documents provided that they are authenticated by the competent authorities. These include photocopies of his employment card, employment contract, educational certificate, experience certificate, certificate of good conduct, medical certificates, passport and other necessary documents, in addition to the periodical reports written by the headmistress of the nursery on the course and progress of his work.
• A register for the children who join the nursery containing all the basic data with the date of registration at the nursery and the date of leaving it provided that every year is independent of the other.
• An administrative register for the registration of employees’ names and the necessary data on everyone of them.

Article No. (13)

The person who applies for work at the nursery must meet the following conditions:

• He must be a person of good conduct and reputation and must not have been sentenced to any punishment for any crime of dishonesty or breach of faith unless he has been rehovilitated or granted an amnesty by the competent authorities within the crimes that can be granted such amnesty.
• He must be void of contagious diseases and epidemics.
• His educational qualifications, especially those of the supervisor, must not be less than the General Secondary Certificate. Priority is given to those holding educational qualifications and who are specialized education and child care who must provide a certificate authenticated by the official authorities.

The nursery’s staff are confined to females but this condition can be waivered as per the approval of the Ministry’s Undersecretary, and the provisions of this Article do not apply to the visiting physician and the persons who are not directly engaged in the supervision of children such as the driver, the guard and the gardener.

Article No. (14)

The nursery’s staff consist of the following, some of whom can be waivered as per the approval of Ministry’s Undersecretary based on the situations of each nursery regarding the number of its children, etc.

First: The Headmistress:

The headmistress manages the nursery and is responsible before the Ministry for the progress of its work. She must be experienced in the educational and social fields and must perform the following duties and tasks:

• Specifying the responsibilities of supervisors and workers at the nursery.
• Implementing the nursery’s Executive Bill.
• Planning the nursery’s programmes and aspects of social and educational activities and providing guidance and technical supervision over the execution of these programmes.
• Evaluating the supervisors’ work, writing reports on them and submitting these reports to the Ministry
• Contributing to raising the standard of the supervisors’ performance by enabling them to attend training course and giving them the opportunity to take congnizance of the books publications and researches on children’s care and upbringing.
• Exerting her efforts for boosting the links and ties between the supervisors and those working under her administration and the children’s families.

Second: The Supervisor:

The Supervisor is directly responsible for the child, and her task is represented in taking care of his personally as a whole, thus she must substitute the child’s mother and must grant the child love and affection.

She also must have a good knowledge of the children’s physical growth and the factors that have an effect on their health, must be able to distinguish between the various symptoms of the diseases children may be infected by and must know how to deal with them in a proper way.

Furthermore, she must be familiar with the stage of childhood , its characteristics , the factors that have great influence on children’s behavior the social circumstances of the children and of their families and how to select the best methods for solving their problems. Her duties include :

• planning the daily activity programme for the group of children she takes care of and securing the appropriate tools and equipment for this activity provider that the children’s desires and tendencies and the condition of the weather and other factors are taken into consideration.
• taking the individual differences between the children into account and forming comprehensive knowledge on every child by watching him in a special and precise way during performing his activity and recognizing his tendencies and desires in addition to the method through which he deals with his peers.
• submitting a monthly social report on every child and filing it in his special file.
• cooperating with the visiting physician and the nurse in recognizing the problems which hinder the child’s growth
• Contributing to raising the standard of the supervisors’ performance by enabling them to attend training course and giving them the opportunity to take congnizance of the books publications and researches on children’s care and upbringing.
• specifying the responsibilities of her assistant and introducing to her the method she must follow in work so that the children would not be exposed to any sort of perplexity.

Third : the assistant supervisor :

She assists the supervisor and participates with her in supervising the children during their practice of the activities so as to reduce the pressures exerted on the supervisor and enable her to provide individual care to every child.

Fourth : the nurse :

She consolidates the role of the visiting physician and devotes all of her time throughout the day to work at the nursery. She must daily observe the health of the children at the nursery , must successfully pass an evaluation test prepared by the competent official authorities , and must perform the following duties :

• preparing the children’s medical registers and cards so as to enable the physician to write down his remarks on the condition of every child’s health.
• conducting a daily medical examination for the children so as to discover diseases and the children infected by them and to isolate these children for presenting them to the physician or referring them to the hospital.
• providing the daily medicine prescribed by the physician to every child at the specified intervals and according to the dosages specified in the medical card.
• weighting the children and measuring their heights at close and regular intervals and recording the relevant data in their medical cards.
• passing by the nursery’s rooms daily to insure the adequacy of ventilation and lighting in them, and inspecting all the nursery’s facilities, particularly the kitchen and the toilets.
• supervising the food provided to the children and prescribed by the physician, and supervising the storage and preparation of the food.
• Conducting first aid operations in a prompt manner for the children who are injured in accident.

Fifth : the visiting physician :

The nursery signs a contract with a physician licensed by the competent official authorities to visit it at least twice a week provided that he is called in emergent cases and the performs the following duties :

• Conducting a thorough medical checkup on children upon their joining the nursery.
• Cooperating with the competent medical authorities for coordinating the process of vaccinating the children against infectious diseases to give them the necessary immunization.
• Establishing a system for meals taking into consideration that the food is desired; can be prepared easily and satisfies the children’s alimentary needs.
• Preparing a medical report on every child in light of the regular monthly checkup.
• Issuing his orders for the isolation of the children infected by contagious diseases or epidemics.
• Inspecting the nursery, checking its hygienic condition and general cleanness and writing remarks in a special register prepared for this purpose.
• Conducting periodical checkup on the employees to insure that they are void on infectious diseases and insuring that they have official medical cards which prove that they are medically fit and void of diseases.

Sixty: The Baby – sitter:

She must be experienced in dealing with children, and her task is represented in performing the works of cleaning and tidying inside the nursery, but she must not carry out, under any circumstances, and supervisory duty on the children.

Seventh: The Bus Supervisor: