UAE | Education

New Indian school in Dubai to open gates to 3,000 next year

International Indian High School's curriculum will allow higher studies locally and abroad

  • By Anjana Sankar, Senior Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 March 17, 2010
  • Gulf News

Shaikh Ahmad unveils the foundation stone for the new Indian High School in the Dubai Silicon Oasis
  • Image Credit: Zarina Fernandes/XPRESS
  • Shaikh Ahmad unveils the foundation stone for the new Indian High School in the Dubai Silicon Oasis as Mohan Valrani, honorary chairman of the Indian High School, looks on.

Dubai: A new CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) school that will be ready by April 2011 is expected to ease the severe seat shortage in Indian schools.

The International Indian High School coming up in the Dubai Silicon Oasis, a few kilometres off Emirates Road, will be able to take up to 3,000 students and hopes to provide an atmosphere equal to or better than the present Indian High School (IHS) campus in Oud Metha, which was established in 1961.

Construction is under way at the new site and the foundation stone was formally laid yesterday by Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman and CEO of Emirates Group, and chairman of the Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority.

The new campus is being built at a cost of Dh100 million and will feature state-of-the-art facilities such as an amphitheatre, well-equipped IT department, wireless campus, activity room, gymnasium, swimming pool and a temperature-controlled indoor sports complex and virtual classrooms and smart boards.

Mohan Valrani, honorary chairman of the board of trustees of IHS, said the school will offer the new international curriculum introduced by the CBSE with the academic focus extended to IT, research and subjects such as nanotechnology. "The school will be ideal for those in the community who do not want to send their children back to India for higher studies. The curriculum is suitable for students to pursue their higher studies here in the UAE or abroad," said Valrani.

He added that the new school will also be non-profit and will offer quality education at an affordable price. "I can say that the fees will be a little higher than the existing IHS fee, but it will be lower than most of the other schools in Dubai," said Valrani, who is also senior vice-chairman and managing director of the Al Shirawi Group of Companies.

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Parents who spoke to Gulf News said it is great news that there would be more seats at least next year for hundreds of parents who have to run from pillar to post to secure admission for their children.

"I took part in the lottery conducted by the IHS in January, but was not lucky enough to get a kindergarten admission for my daughter. I am so happy that there will be a new school next year because I do not want to go through the same trauma for my younger child who is one year old now," said Jagateesh Sharma, a father from Dubai.

Have your say
Do you think this will ease the severe seat crunch? Has your child been refused by a school due to the lack of seats? Have you found an alternative option? Tell us.
 

Comments (7)

  1. Added 14:32 March 17, 2010

    i feel very happy that Inertnational indian high school ll be soon ready to funtion from april 2011 near to Dubai Silicon Oasis.Actually my family shifted to dubai silicon oasis from sharjah, i have so much worried about my 1st daughter who has to join kindergarden from next year.Through many of our relatives and friends told that it is very difficult to get admission in schools.I hope by the opening of the new school ,getting admission difficulty will be less.

    Arifa Saihusadat, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  2. Added 13:41 March 17, 2010

    there are many good schools, besides always struggling to get seats in Indian schools. I am an Indian, but my daughter studies in a U.K board school...and we are very happy with it.

    M. G., Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  3. Added 13:30 March 17, 2010

    I totally agree with my firend Julie from Dubai, Today I just touched bases with some schools regarding my daughters admission for KG-1 and I got the exact answer that most of them not opening the admission for new pupil. On questioning they said they are only taking the sibling, I think this is wrong in every manner that pupils these days are not being judged on their talent they are getting admission on there siblings. Awful!!!

    Kashif Patel, Abu Dhabi, Pakistan

  4. Added 09:55 March 17, 2010

    Even though the seats will be reserved to the trustees & the other parents will only take the pain in collecting the forms & preparing the children for entrance test. When you say about non probit making institution our school should imagine the money collected from the forms & not giving the seats, while all the other schools in the emirates collect the forms on line. There is no preference to the siblings whereas other schools give first preference to the siblings before they distribute the forms to open category.

    Julie, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  5. Added 08:48 March 17, 2010

    Last year in April I brought my family for the first time to UAE. I am working in Dubai and residing in Sharjah. I was trying for admission to two of our sons. Getting admission for both sons was so horrendous that I toured five Indian schools in Sharjah and every school refused admission saying that there is no vacancy. Finally I was forced to send my elder son to India to pursue his high school and with lot of difficulty I got admission to my younger son in one of Sharjah school. Its surprising that getting admission had been so tough undergoing the trauma making me think virtually that population of India was more abroad than in India itself. I am also equally surprised the way Indian government and Indian High Commission cannot realize that Indians residing overseas are not getting admissions in Indian schools especially where the Indian population is dense. The Indian government and Indian High Commission must plan and implement actions such that any Indian having family status as per employment contract must be able to get admission to their children in the emirate he is residing. But the parents mental agony remains as each year the struggle for admission goes on and on.

    Sunil Kumar, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  6. Added 07:50 March 17, 2010

    New schools is a blessing since parents have difficult time in getting seats in schools with moderate fee structures unlike the some schools with fat bills and transportation fees.. I hope this will help the Indian community.

    Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  7. Added 07:32 March 17, 2010

    This will definitely ease the cry for admission in this school. Will be more happy if this syllabus matches the existing one

    Sundar, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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