Dubai's KHDA to set new AI rules for schools in 2026

What happened

Dubai's Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) is preparing new guidelines for how schools use artificial intelligence with pupils, expected to take effect next year. KHDA director general Aisha Miran confirmed the plans at a media event, saying the authority wants clear direction on when AI should support student learning and when its use should be limited.

Full details have not yet been published, but the guidance is expected to address how schools deploy AI tools, the safeguards institutions should have in place, and the role parents play in overseeing their children's use of the technology. Ms Miran said KHDA is also weighing the appropriate age at which technology should first be introduced into a child's education, though no final decision has been made.

Why it matters

This is a regulatory story about how a major education authority intends to govern AI adoption in a sensitive, high-stakes environment: child development. Rather than leaving classroom AI use to individual schools or vendors, KHDA is signalling it wants a system-wide framework — one that balances digital readiness against the risk of over-reliance or inappropriate use. For an authority overseeing one of the region's most internationally diverse school systems, this also sets a reference point other GCC education regulators may watch closely.

For leaders in digital transformation and public-sector policy, the move illustrates a broader pattern: as AI tools become embedded in everyday services, institutions are shifting from reactive guidance to proactive governance, defining not just what AI can do but when and for whom it should be used. The explicit inclusion of parents as stakeholders also points to a more holistic approach to AI governance — one that treats trust and oversight as shared responsibilities rather than purely technical or institutional matters.

The Renascence take

The detail worth noting is timing, not technology. KHDA isn't asking whether AI belongs in classrooms — that's settled — it's asking when intervention helps and when it quietly erodes a skill before it's formed. That's a much harder design question than most "AI in education" policies attempt.

Most AI governance efforts default to access rules — who can use what tool, and how often. KHDA's framing is more interesting because it's sequencing-led: it treats AI exposure like a developmental milestone, not a permissions setting. That's the right instinct, and one experience-led organisations in any sector should borrow — the real design question for AI is rarely "should we deploy it," but "at what point in someone's journey does assistance start working against the outcome we actually want for them." Schools that get this right will need to measure learning outcomes, not just usage compliance, to know if the balance is working.