Schools in Qatar will close their doors during the international football tournament at the end of the year.

All schools across Qatar will close during the much-awaited 2022 FIFA World Cup at the end of the year, the Ministry of Education has announced.

In a new ministerial decision, the minister stated that the mid-year holidays for all public schools in Qatar will start November 20, 2022, and end on December 22, 2022—10 days before the World Cup starts and four days after it concludes.

The second semester, according to the new academic calendar, will kick off on December 25, 2022.

It’s not clear how this will impact private schools, who usually take a winter-break during the last two weeks of December to coincide with Christmas and the new year, however it is expected that they too will have to adjust their calendars to ensure that children are off during the period of the the World Cup.

Although it was widely expected, many private international schools will face a challenge to balance between these latest amendments to their calendars and other dates they must accommodate including Easter, Eid and of course the summer break where most expats chose to travel to their homes.

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Qatar’s most-awaited tournament will kick off on November 21, 2022, at the Al Bayt stadium. The final match will be played on December 18, 2022, at the Lusail Stadium—coinciding with the country’s National Day.

The tournament will be played during the winter season for the first time due to extreme humidity and heat levels in the summer months in Doha.

In total, 64 matches will be held in the eight state-of-the-art World Cup stadiums. And for the first time in FIFA’s history, fans will be able to attend two matches in one day thanks to the convinet transportation and close proximity between all stadiums.

The host nation has undertaken many infrastructure and construction projects ahead of the event, such as the building of multiple World Cup stadiums and other projects, including the metro system and an expansion of the Hamad International Airport.

Millions of people are expected to land in Doha for the grand event, according to the organisers.

The latest decision is aimed at allowing the country to facilitate traffic easier and ensure a smooth tournament. It will also help those who wish to attend matches to do so freely without worrying about school attendance, providing the community with a once in a lifetime opportunity.

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Meanwhile, per the new resolution, all school staff for the new academic year will start on August 14, while students will return on August 16 following 2022’s summer break.

The last exam of the 2022-2023 academic year will be on June 6, 2023. For more information regarding the calendar, head over to the ministry’s website.