Abu Dhabi, UAE: By the start of the next academic year, parents of children following the Indian curriculum will have five additional schools to choose from following the closure of the final villa schools operating in the capital.
Since 2010, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) has been closing schools “originally not designed and constructed as a school building, for instance, a residential villa” under a government initiative for all private schools to be housed in purpose-built premises consistent with quality and safety standards.
The last few of the 72 villa schools in the emirate were shut down earlier this year, creating a shortage of places for pupils of the Indian curriculum.
The five new schools in Abu Dhabi will provide space for about 13,775 Indian curriculum pupils when in full operation.
Two of the schools, Ryan International School and the Global Indian International School, opened in September for nursery-age children with higher grades to be added next year.
Gems United Indian School has opened at a temporary location in the capital until its new purpose-built premises are completed. Its official opening will be in April, the start of the Indian curriculum academic year, as will the opening of the International Indian School and the Al Wathba branch of the Mussaffah-based Shining Star International School.
The Gems school was opened in its temporary location as a replacement for Our Own English High School. When its permanent building, in Baniyas West, is finished, it will have room for 1,000 pupils, before adding another 2,000 seats by April 2017.
When the Al Wathba branch of the Shining Star International School is complete, the facilities will be able to cater for 4,000 pupils. Tuition fees will range from Dh7,900 to Dh15,000 per year.
The Global Indian International School accepted more than 500 nursery pupils when it opened in Baniyas last month. When it is in full operation, it will accommodate about 1,700 children from nursery to Grade 12, with tuition fees starting in the Dh10,000 to Dh12,000 range.
Global Educational Solutions, which owns the Global English School that has been operating in Al Ain for about 35 years, will open the International Indian School in Baniyas in April for children from nursery age to Grade 8.
“We are almost done with the building construction and hopefully, inshallah, in December, we will start the official expression of interest and registration process,” said Muneer Ansari, director at Global Educational Solutions.
The Ryan International Group, which opened the Ryan Private School in Mussaffah last year that is at capacity with 1,600 pupils, launched the Masdar City located Ryan International School last month with an intake of nursery-age children.
In April, it will accept children from Grades one to five, said Jonathan Collins, head of operations for the Ryan International Group.
A secondary school for Grades six to 12 is expected to open on the campus in 2017.
When in full operation, the school will have capacity for about 2,875 pupils. Yearly fees will start at Dh13,400 for nursery placements.
Mr Collins said that having schools located on the outskirts of the city had not impacted enrolment.
“The demand is there,” Mr Collins said.
“They have a huge shortage of schools, which they need to cover for.”
Jiju Paul, an Indian father of two who found himself scrambling to find places for his children after their villa school closed last year, said parents were grateful for the new choices available.
“It will certainly help to solve problems,” he said.
© The National
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