Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) has offered to provide land and an empty school building to an Indian school operator, officials told Gulf News, without revealing to whom the offer has been made.
The move is in response to the dire shortage of seats at Indian curriculum schools and growing desperation among parents who are unable to secure slots for their children.
Adec is seeking to resolve long-standing concerns over lack of seats, the council said.
"We recognise that there has been long-standing concern on the mismatch of supply and demand for Indian-curriculum schools throughout the UAE", Adec said in a statement issued to Gulf News.
The council cited the large Indian population in the UAE and the lack of incentive for private operators to provide low-cost schools as the reasons for this mismatch.
Officials are in discussion with private school operators, who run Indian curriculum schools, to come up with an effective solution, they said.
Currently, as many as 21,193 students study in the 17 Indian schools located, in Abu Dhabi Island and in Mussafah. In all, there are 25 schools in Abu Dhabi, inclusive of Al Ain and Al Gharbia (formerly the Western Region). Although no official figures could be obtained as to how many students were bound to be left without a seat this year, schools confirmed that thousands of parents had to be turned away due to lack of seats.
"An offer has been made to a private school operator to provide land and an empty school building to support excess capacity to address this issue", the statement reads.
"Adec would like to assure community members that it is in discussion with private school providers and is actively looking into long-term solutions".
However, as it is a ‘complex issue', officials have requested the patience and support of the community as plans are still in the stages of being finalised.
- 25 Indian schools in Abu Dhabi
- 17 Indian schools in Abu Dhabi city
- 21,193 students in 17 schools in Abu Dhabi
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