Dubai school wins ISO certificate

The Indian High School, Dubai, yesterday became the only educational institution in the Gulf to be awarded the prestigious ISO 9001:2000 certification by Lloyds Register, UK.

The certification testifies to the existence of a 'Quality Management System', and acknowledges the superior contribution of the school in providing education from KG to Grade 12 with an international outlook.

The certificate was handed over by a representative of Lloyds to Ram Buxani, the school's Chairman, at a ceremony held yesterday at the school.

The areas that fell under purview of the ISO audit included curriculum transaction, IT, laboratories, co-curricular activities, question paper design, staff recruitment, and administrative steps, among others.

The certification follows close on the heels of another coveted award that the school won recently – the Sheikh Hamdan Award for Distinguished School, School Administration and Distinguished Teacher. The school also claimed the Best Student Award for the ninth time this year.

Explaining that these successes are the direct outcome of a new strategy that the school has recently adopted to inspire academic excellence, Buxani said: "This strategy focuses heavily on building state of the art infrastructure, integrating information technology in the classroom and facilitating innovations in curriculum transaction.

"It manifests the management's commitment to initiating a paradigm shift in the interpretation of modern school education in the region.

"Comprehensive audits were conducted in a total of 26 areas – 15 academic and 11 non-academic. In short, every aspect of our school's functioning was subject to scrutiny. The certificate is, therefore, a salute to each and every member of the staff and student who belong to this school."

Ashok Kumar, Principal of the school, noted: "The certificate is the ultimate international stamp of quality for an organisation. The honour of receiving an ISO certification is quite distinct from other recognitions.

"With other awards, the trophy or the prize marks the successful culmination of a long and arduous journey. With the ISO, the receipt of the certificate is in fact the beginning. A system of surveillance audit (bi-annual) will ensure that the procedures are constantly reviewed and objectives revised."