UAE back-to-school fatigue: When is your child’s exhaustion after school a concern?

For many UAE families, the return to school has brought back more than uniforms, lunch boxes and homework. It has also brought exhausted children, especially those moving from relaxed summer mornings to early wake-ups, full school days and busy after-school schedules.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children aged 6 to 12 sleep between nine and 12 hours each night. How rested a child feels during the day also offers an important indication of whether they are getting enough sleep. Insufficient sleep can affect a child’s ability to concentrate and engage at school while adjusting to earlier mornings and longer days.

Bhavya Akula said her 10-year-old son had shifted from waking around 7 or 7.15am during the holidays to getting up at 5.45am for school. On the first day, he arrived home by school bus at about 3.40pm, ate a quick lunch and left for an hour-long swimming lesson. He still had daily reading, dinner and bedtime preparations ahead of him.

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On the first day of the new academic year, he came home at around 3.40pm in the school bus, looking absolutely exhausted. He had a quick lunch and then had to leave for his swimming lesson, where he swam for another hour. By the time he came back, I could really see how tired he was. He still had to do his daily reading, have dinner and get ready for bed. At dinner, I could see him almost falling asleep at the table.

“On the first day of the new academic year, he came home at around 3.40pm in the school bus, looking absolutely exhausted,” Akula said. “At dinner, I could see him almost falling asleep at the table.”

She said the family’s relaxed holiday routine had been replaced by school, Arabic tutorials, swimming, tennis and guitar on different days. Another parent, Moldovan expatriate Ana Rusu, said her daughter found the move into Year 7 particularly tiring because of greater academic demands and more independent work. Rusu said the early-morning routine had also taken time to adjust to, with her daughter often tired by the time she began her homework.

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Now that the timetable is out and co-curricular activities are back in full swing, the packed schedule is back too. Alongside school, he has his after school Arabic tutorials, swimming, tennis and guitar on different days of the week, so his relaxed holiday routine has definitely come to an end.