Abu Dhabi: A new private school offering the Indian curriculum, the United Indian School, is set to open in the capital next year, education provider GEMS Education announced today (December 8).
The school is accepting registrations for pupils to be enrolled from kindergarten to Grade 10 for 2016-2017, according to a statement sent by GEMS. The academic year will commence in April 2016.
The school is located in the capital’s Baniyas West suburb, and will follow the Indian Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) curriculum. It will be able to accommodate 1,500 pupils in the first phase. In future, the capacity will extend to 3,900 seats, including places in Grades 11 and 12.
“GEMS United Indian School will deliver an internationally comparable education, and the innovative learning and teaching will empower our learners to achieve excellence,” said George Mathew, the school’s principal.
There has been a long-standing shortage of school seats in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, especially as 72 institutions housed in non-purpose built facilities have been closed down since 2009 by the Abu Dhabi Education Council, the education sector regulator. Many of these villa schools, as they were known, offered the Indian curriculum, and their closure led to a seat crunch for Indian parents.
The Adec also forecasts a five per cent growth in demand for private school seats each year, and has urged greater investment in education. A number of private investors and school operators have therefore stepped in to fill the gap.
United Indian School is one of three new Indian curriculum schools slated to open next year. As reported by Gulf News in October, the other two are Global Indian International School, also located in Baniyas, and Rayan Private School in Masdar City. Between them, they will create 3,550 new school seats.
Two Indian schools are also expected to expand. The second branch of Shining Star International School will become operational in Al Wathba suburb next year. Adec officials said the long-established Abu Dhabi Indian School will also offer more seats at its Al Wathba branch.
