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Satyendra Pathak
Doha
The opening of three new schools adhering to Indian curriculum this year has helped in alleviating the problem of seat shortage for Indian students living in Qatar.
While the Galileo International School at Muaither opened for students on August 25, Monarch International School at Wukair has become operational and has been receiving applications for admissions from August.
Earlier, in April this year, another Indian school, Loyola International School, started operations with more than 600 students on its Wukair campus.
“The opening of these three new schools this year has bridged the gap between large number of Indian students seeking admissions and the number of seats available in Indian schools. In fact, the seats will outnumber students once all these schools are fully operational,” a senior official at the Indian Embassy in Doha told Qatar Tribune.
“There was a growing sense of desperation among parents who have been unable to secure admissions for their children due to shortage of seats at Indian curriculum schools. Now, this will be a matter of past,” the official said.
Galileo International School Chairperson Aida al Shahri told Qatar Tribune that all formalities to open the school were completed in record time and the school has become operation as per the schedule on August 25, when all Indian schools opened after the summer vacations.
“While we have got permission to run classes from KG 1 to grade 12, we are taking admissions only for KG1 to grade 6 this academic session. From the next academic session, we will open admissions for all classes -- from KG 1 to grade 12,” Shahri said.
Spread over an area of 14,700 square metres, the state-of-the-art Galileo International School can accommodate 1,100 students this year and the number of seats will increase once the school is fully operational from the next academic session.
“We have hired very qualified principal and teaching staff from India. The school has conducted several induction programmes for teachers and administrators to meet the high standards of education in Qatar,” she said. Monarch International School (MIS), the second campus of Delhi Public School – Modern Indian School (DPS MIS), has also become operational and ready to run classes from KG1 to grade 5 this academic session.
“Our curriculum is based on the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in India. The school will also reflect the needs of the international and multi-cultural student body and capitalise on the unique opportunities provided by being located in Qatar,” Monarch International School President Hassan A Chougule said.
According to Chougule, Monarch International School is the first school to create the community of learners, parents, teachers and students using the technology solutions that are available in the world today.
“We have partnered with IYC World in India and in Qatar to provide the digital curriculum, e-books and best IT solutions for our learners, teachers and parents. We will have iPads and tabs for students, laptops for teachers and admin staff, best hardware, networks and a wifi campus to enhance the teaching and learning in the school as well as home,” he said.
With the opening of these three new schools, the total number of Indian schools in Qatar has reached 18 excluding several kindergartens operational in the country for Indian children.
“The private education market in Qatar has become a magnet for investors and school operators. A number of top schooling brand names are vying to enter Qatar to cater to the huge number of Indian students in the country,” the Indian embassy official said.
Highlighting the phenomenal growth of private Indian schools in Qatar, he said, “It is not far ago that only two Indian schools were operational in Qatar. Even the new schools that opened afterward had small campuses. Today, all of them have shifted to big campuses and some of them are even having two or more than two branches in the country.”
“The quality of education at all the schools has also improved a lot as most of the schools have hired quality teachers and focus a lot on the training of teachers on a regular basis,” he said.
Azim Abbas, director of DPS-MIS, one of the biggest Indian schools operating in Qatar, said the growth of Indian schools in Qatar was phenomenal especially during the period 2000 to 2015 due to their high education quality, low fees and world-class quality infrastructure.
“The future of Indian schools may be subject to the business acumen of ‘survival of the fittest’ as almost all new and old schools offering quality education in purpose-built infrastructure. Parents will have a choice and seat availability will be higher than the demand. Hence all schools will work harder to meet the quality expectations of parents and hence parents will have a choice of sending their children to a good Indian school at an affordable price,” said Abbas said, who is also the president of Indian Businessmen and Professional Council (IBPC).
Meanwhile, a number of parents of Indian students have expressed satisfaction over the availability of sufficient number of seats in the Indian schools.
“It was not far ago when the Indian expatriates used to approach the Indian embassy with requests for assistance, citing non-availability of seats in Indian schools in Doha. Now there is no such problem. In fact, now we have more options to choose from,” an Indian expatriate said.
Doha
The opening of three new schools adhering to Indian curriculum this year has helped in alleviating the problem of seat shortage for Indian students living in Qatar.
While the Galileo International School at Muaither opened for students on August 25, Monarch International School at Wukair has become operational and has been receiving applications for admissions from August.
Earlier, in April this year, another Indian school, Loyola International School, started operations with more than 600 students on its Wukair campus.
“The opening of these three new schools this year has bridged the gap between large number of Indian students seeking admissions and the number of seats available in Indian schools. In fact, the seats will outnumber students once all these schools are fully operational,” a senior official at the Indian Embassy in Doha told Qatar Tribune.
“There was a growing sense of desperation among parents who have been unable to secure admissions for their children due to shortage of seats at Indian curriculum schools. Now, this will be a matter of past,” the official said.
Galileo International School Chairperson Aida al Shahri told Qatar Tribune that all formalities to open the school were completed in record time and the school has become operation as per the schedule on August 25, when all Indian schools opened after the summer vacations.
“While we have got permission to run classes from KG 1 to grade 12, we are taking admissions only for KG1 to grade 6 this academic session. From the next academic session, we will open admissions for all classes -- from KG 1 to grade 12,” Shahri said.
Spread over an area of 14,700 square metres, the state-of-the-art Galileo International School can accommodate 1,100 students this year and the number of seats will increase once the school is fully operational from the next academic session.
“We have hired very qualified principal and teaching staff from India. The school has conducted several induction programmes for teachers and administrators to meet the high standards of education in Qatar,” she said. Monarch International School (MIS), the second campus of Delhi Public School – Modern Indian School (DPS MIS), has also become operational and ready to run classes from KG1 to grade 5 this academic session.
“Our curriculum is based on the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in India. The school will also reflect the needs of the international and multi-cultural student body and capitalise on the unique opportunities provided by being located in Qatar,” Monarch International School President Hassan A Chougule said.
According to Chougule, Monarch International School is the first school to create the community of learners, parents, teachers and students using the technology solutions that are available in the world today.
“We have partnered with IYC World in India and in Qatar to provide the digital curriculum, e-books and best IT solutions for our learners, teachers and parents. We will have iPads and tabs for students, laptops for teachers and admin staff, best hardware, networks and a wifi campus to enhance the teaching and learning in the school as well as home,” he said.
With the opening of these three new schools, the total number of Indian schools in Qatar has reached 18 excluding several kindergartens operational in the country for Indian children.
“The private education market in Qatar has become a magnet for investors and school operators. A number of top schooling brand names are vying to enter Qatar to cater to the huge number of Indian students in the country,” the Indian embassy official said.
Highlighting the phenomenal growth of private Indian schools in Qatar, he said, “It is not far ago that only two Indian schools were operational in Qatar. Even the new schools that opened afterward had small campuses. Today, all of them have shifted to big campuses and some of them are even having two or more than two branches in the country.”
“The quality of education at all the schools has also improved a lot as most of the schools have hired quality teachers and focus a lot on the training of teachers on a regular basis,” he said.
Azim Abbas, director of DPS-MIS, one of the biggest Indian schools operating in Qatar, said the growth of Indian schools in Qatar was phenomenal especially during the period 2000 to 2015 due to their high education quality, low fees and world-class quality infrastructure.
“The future of Indian schools may be subject to the business acumen of ‘survival of the fittest’ as almost all new and old schools offering quality education in purpose-built infrastructure. Parents will have a choice and seat availability will be higher than the demand. Hence all schools will work harder to meet the quality expectations of parents and hence parents will have a choice of sending their children to a good Indian school at an affordable price,” said Abbas said, who is also the president of Indian Businessmen and Professional Council (IBPC).
Meanwhile, a number of parents of Indian students have expressed satisfaction over the availability of sufficient number of seats in the Indian schools.
“It was not far ago when the Indian expatriates used to approach the Indian embassy with requests for assistance, citing non-availability of seats in Indian schools in Doha. Now there is no such problem. In fact, now we have more options to choose from,” an Indian expatriate said.
