Abu Dhabi: At least four new non-profit Indian curriculum schools are being opened in the capital over the next two years. This will help ease the severe shortage of schools, authorities have disclosed.
Several classrooms will also be added to an existing school, making hundreds of seats available to children, officials told Gulf News on Wednesday.
However, since the new academic year begins on Sunday, some parents say plans have come too late to be helpful this year.
Educational authorities and Indian businessmen said the projects are part of their joint efforts to address the admission crisis, mainly due to Abu Dhabi Education Council's (ADEC) decision to stop schools from being run in villas by 2013.
Some Indian businessmen and school managements have formally approached ADEC to establish at least four new non-profit Indian curriculum schools, ADEC said in a statement issued to Gulf News.
Another non-profit school (following the ADEC curriculum) for Asian and Arab communities is also on the cards.
If the proposed projects continue, the number of new non-profit sharing Indian schools will go up to five as setting up of one school was already announced.
As Gulf News reported on Sunday, April 4, a prominent Indian businessman is opening a new non-profit sharing Indian School in Madinat Zayed in Al Gharbia (formerly the western region) on April 11 in an empty government school building provided by ADEC.
ADEC also said it supports Abu Dhabi Indian School's (ADIS) initiative to construct more classrooms in its current premises. The school said that it plans 20 more classrooms, which can accommodate 30 pupils each — a total of 600 more pupils.
"If permission is granted, the construction can be completed within one year and 600 more pupils can be taken for the next academic year", Dr B.R. Shetty, chairman of the school said.
Shetty, Yousuf Ali M.A, the director of the board of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and managing director of Emke Group, and Mohan Valrani, chairman of the Indian High School in Dubai, have formally expressed their willingness to set up non-profit sharing schools, ADEC confirmed.
Incentives
ADEC will speed up the process to establish non-profit sharing schools on the land that it is providing as incentive to establish high quality, low cost academic facilities for multi-cultural communities.
"We recognise the need to move things as quickly as possible and aim to start building new schools in the next 12 months, so that schools can be fully functional and operate in 18 months-two years time," said the statement.
The Indian High School, Dubai having the experience of running a non-profit school with 10,000 pupils is ready to set up a school in Abu Dhabi in cooperation with the Indian business community in the emirate, provided ADEC facilitates the official formalities, Valrani said.
Ali said he will set up the school to help low-income groups in the community.
"I will tie up with an Indian education institution for this purpose", he said.
Indian Community Kindergarten (ICK) owned by Shetty said the construction of the new school can be started within three months, after the allocation of the land by ADEC.
ADEC also said that Shetty's application to start another school catering to other Asian and Arab communities is also under consideration and will be processed quickly if it meets standards.
Projects too late
As the new academic year begins on Sunday, some parents said that the plan to build new schools has come very late.
"My 9-year-old daughter and wife relocated to India, mainly because school admission is a big issue here," said Venugopal B., a senior service engineer, who has lived in the UAE for the past 15 years.
Even if admission could be secured in one of the smaller schools, mostly in villas, after struggling, the quality of education will have to be compromised, he said. Instead, his family went back home on March 24.
"The new plans come too late to make a difference this year."
His daughter was studying in Sherwood Academy, which announced in January that they will be closed by 2013.
"She could have continued for two more years, but I was sceptical about how much would change in that time", Venugopal added.
V.D. Sajeev, an accountant said that securing a Grade 1 admission for his son was no simple task.
"My son was studying in Indian Community Kindergarten (ICK). So getting a Grade 1 admission was a must."
"I managed to get admission in one of the villa schools, after trying for months. I will hopefully move him to a better school if the situation improves next year," he said.
Proposed new schools
- Branch of Abu Dhabi Indian School
- Branch of the Indian High School, Dubai
- New school to be set up byYousuf Ali M.A.
- New School by ICK owned by B.R. Shetty
- School for Asian Arab community
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