As cars and buses line the UAE roads during back-to-school season, one family took a completely different route. A viral video on social media shows a young brother and sister buckled into a small cart pulled by a pony and guided by a handler, trotting off to Al Towayya KG in Al Ain.
The horse-drawn cart belongs to their family business, relatives of the young riders told Khaleej Times.
The video, originally shared by Arabic media outlet AlKhaleej on X, shows the cart passing along the side of the road, which was initially free of traffic, moving past school buses and private cars until it came to a stop in the front yard at the school entrance.
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The two children are seen sitting joyfully, and as the cart passed by, it caught the attention of other students, who couldn’t take their eyes off them, watching the scene with curiosity.
Talking to Khaleej Times, the siblings’ relatives said, “To avoid any fuss on the first day, the family arranged the children’s way to school using this cart, which is part of a business owned by one of the family members.”
The video was soon flooded with adoration from commenters, who said “I love them, may God protect them. I still remember my first day of school, full of activities and competitions” and “Cute, I love these activities.”
New academic year
Across the UAE, over a million students returned to classrooms after a two-month summer break. Some schools greeted kids with ice cream, others with police officers, but nothing could top the charm of a pony leading the way.
The Ministry of Education, meanwhile, has rolled out staggered start times for second- and third-grade students to ease daily routines and school transport.
As the new academic year began on August 25, nine new public schools opened across the UAE, welcoming over 25,000 students with the support of more than 800 newly appointed teachers. Additionally, maintenance work has been carried out at 465 schools nationwide to ensure they are fully prepared to host over one million students.
Following the summer break, 25,345 new students have joined the education system, supported by 830 newly recruited teachers and staff. To ensure smooth operations, 5,560 school buses have been deployed, 46,888 laptops have been distributed, and more than 10 million textbooks have been printed.
