21 Indian schools in Oman by 2020

Muscat: A new Indian school will be built alongside three newly-built campuses for existing schools to provide quality education to expat students in Oman.
The move is part of Vision 2020, which has been introduced by the Board of Directors (BoD) for Indian Schools in the Sultanate. It has plans to increase the number of Indian schools in the country to 21 by 2020.
This includes building new facilities and expanding existing ones to take care of the future education needs that the nation is expected to face.
When fully built, Indian School Al Awabi is expected to be home to a further 3,500 students and is likely to be operational by the 2019-2020 academic year. The school will have around 18,000 sqm of built-up area, and will also feature laboratories with modern facilities, a multipurpose hall, swimming pool, gym and other facilities to help properly educate students. It will be located within a 15-kilometre radius from residential suburbs such as Ghala, Al Khuwair and Al Ghubra, thereby taking some of the pressure off existing schools in the area. In addition, new campuses are being built in Rustaq, Buraimi and Ibra.
More than 46,000 children currently study at Indian schools from Musandam in the north to the Dhofar in the south. Dr Baby Saamuel, chairman of the BoD, said that education was not something to be taken lightly.
“Our ultimate vision and aim are to ensure that every child from our schools undergoes transformative learning and is equipped with the knowledge, skills and well-being to find his/her identity and purpose in life,” he said.
“While the educational system itself is vast, and in need of continual review and updates, there are some areas that are more critical, timely and relevant now than ever before, affecting every stakeholder. We intend to build on these areas with concrete strategies and collaborative efforts.”
He added: “On the academic front, we are identifying and implementing new initiatives that can significantly improve access to core academics, enhance preparation for competitive examinations, and ensure consistent improvement. Simultaneously, we are developing new ideas for co-curricular, extra-curricular and soft skills and personality development for our children. One of our primary focuses will also be on our teachers. It is their commitment and service that determine whether a child is merely being instructed or educated. Every one of them has spent years in academia accumulating a wealth of expertise and experience.”
MSR Faizi, finance director of the BoD, added: “It’s equally challenging for the Board to run these institutions of learning since there has been a steady growth in the number of new admissions to Indian Schools. This situation not only resulted in stretching existing resources to maximum capacity but also forced the administration to look for avenues to establish new schools to meet the demands. Such bold steps to establish new schools are backed by the parent fraternity through their active participation in these initiatives.”
Rustaq, Buraimi and Ibra aside, Indian schools in the capital region are located in Muscat, Darsait, Wadi Kabir, Al Ghubra, Seeb and Mabella. Schools are also located in other towns and cities such as Ibri, Nizwa, Jalan, Muladha, Sur, Saham and Sohar. Indian Schools in Thumrait and Salalah cater to students in the Dhofar Governorate, while another school exists in Khasab, the administrative centre of Oman’s northern governorate of Musandam. Another school – Indian School Masirah – has been set up especially for families in that region.
With mankind increasingly moving towards a more technologically advanced society, the academic syllabus taught to children will also be changed, to provide children with the opportunity to thrive in future, and ensuring they stay up to date with the latest innovations.
Child-centric
“This is why our schools need to be child-centric & have a child-first approach,” remarked Saamuel. “It is time to transform our schools from centres of information to centres of holistic education, and make them places where our children are readied academically, physically and mentally to face a new future. This shall be achieved through a multi-pronged approach that includes enhanced intrinsic and external motivation for teachers, better teaching and learning criteria, increasing the role and presence of counsellors and, most importantly, making our children self-aware, self-empowered and in pursuit of excellence.”
The board also stressed that the community-centric approach that Indian schools had would continue to be at the core of their activities: although they were initially set up for Indian students in the Sultanate, these schools now welcome students from many different nationalities and ethnic backgrounds.
“The Board is very keen that no child is deprived of his/her education for any reason whatsoever,” added MP Vinoba, education adviser to the board.
“To ensure the quality of education imparted in schools, appropriate measures are taken. Well qualified and experienced teachers are recruited from time to time to meet the requirements.”
Vision 2020 is centred on four pillars of development, including academic development, extra-curricular development, psychological and emotional development and physical development. To gain further insights and important feedback from all those who would be affected by these efforts, surveys were sent to teachers, parents and students.
On the basis of this feedback, plans will be readied and initiatives will be brought about to complete the objectives of Vision 2020, which will be achieved through teacher training programmes, competitive exams, academic council formation, career fairs, debating clubs, peer learning programmes, common question-paper systems, academic manuals, counselling, physical education, fine arts, charity clubs and e-magazines.
In this context, Dr CM Najeeb, vice chairman of the BoD, said: “The main objective of the BoD and school managements has been to educate our children to excel in life with exemplary values and goodness, upholding the unity of India. Through education, they can be taught to help less privileged children who urgently need help from all possible sources.”