Latest: Abu Dhabi schools to extend distance learning for a week at least
Distance learning will be extended for a further week at government schools and universities in the UAE, the authorities said on Wednesday.
Hazza Al Mansouri, spokesman for the education sector, said pupils would continue to study remotely from Monday, January 17 through to Friday, January 21.
Private schools in the Northern Emirates often follow suit.
Mr Al Mansoori said all exams requiring attendance for schools and universities would be postponed until after Friday January 28.
The measures were set out in a coronavirus briefing held by the government.
The authorities previously announced public schools would switch to remote learning for the first two weeks of term.
National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority decisions typically apply to Abu Dhabi and are followed by the Northern Emirates. Schools in Dubai and Sharjah, which have their own private education regulators, are not affected by such decisions.
The Abu Dhabi authorities also approved an extension of remote learning for public and private schools for one week, from January 17.
They said the decision had been made to "enable all education facilities to be fully prepared for a safe return for students".
"The decision applies to all public and private schools in the emirate, as well as universities, colleges and training institutes," the authority said.
On Monday, Abu Dhabi's private education regulator polled parents about the prospect of continuing remote learning "for the next few weeks".
“Knowing that you will have the option to change your mind and send your children physically to school after January 31, which learning option do you prefer for the coming few weeks?”, parents were asked in the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge survey.
Options included distance learning, an alternating week mode – one week at school, one week distance learning – a staggered return of age groups one week apart, and a full physical return to classrooms.
During the briefing, Noura Al Ghaithi, a government health spokeswoman, stressed the importance of receiving a third booster shot against Covid-19.
She urged eligible members of the public to receive the additional dose to safeguard their health and that of others, particularly the elderly and those with chronic illnesses.
She said the booster campaign was central to protecting public and bolstering efforts to reach herd immunity.
The UAE has overseen one the world's most robust vaccination drives.
Close to 23 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered to date, with more than 92 per cent of the public receiving two doses.
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How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
