Oman education: Pakistan School’s Buraimi campus ready, awaits approval

Muscat: Pakistan School’s Buraimi campus, which was in the pipeline for a few years, is ready, but the school authorities are waiting for a final approval from the Ministry of Education.
Also, the management has plans to open a school somewhere in the Sharqiyah region and is on the lookout for a suitable location for the same.
“Our Buraimi campus is ready, but we are waiting for a licence from the Ministry of Education to start operating,” said Muhammad Adnan Shahzad, chairman, Pakistan Schools in Oman.
After the school in Buraimi, the management also has plans to open schools in Ibri and in Sharqiyah.
“Between Bid Bid to Sur, we don’t have a Pakistan School and so we are looking for a proper location there to open a school, apart from that we are also looking at starting the Ibri school.”
Shahzad also said the number of students registered by PSM this year is more, compared with 2015.
“We were expecting the number to possibly go down, but we had more students coming this year. The Pakistan School in Seeb opened in 2014 and has crossed 700 students already. Our campuses in the interiors have about 5,500 students in total.”
Annual food festival
He also said this on the sidelines of a press conference organised by the school recently, where they announced the annual food festival and musical evening to be held on May 7, and a very popular event among the Asian expat community in Oman.
The highlight of this year’s event is that it is being organised together with a musical evening, which will feature Pakistani singer Amanat Ali, who has a large fan following in the subcontinent.
“The food festival is held every year to generate funds for different projects of the school, and to provide the residents of Oman—from the Pakistani and other communities to enjoy the culture and food of our country. Last year’s event was a mega success, and this year we have invited Amanat Ali, who is very popular among the people of Pakistan and India.” Shahzad said.
Visitors to the food festival can expect special Pakistani cuisine, such as different kinds of kebabs, tikka, haleem, nihari and other delicious items to snack on. There will also be Indian food stalls selling vegetarian munchies.
Apart from great food, attendees can also find stalls selling clothes and jewellery at the event. Other attractions, such as henna design will also be available at the event. The Oman Arab Bank is the major sponsor for this year’s event.
According to Shahzad, the food festival in 2015 had raised considerable funds for projects that were undertaken by the school’s management.
“Last year, we managed to raise a good amount and are expecting the same this year too. We spent the amount on the female mosque, a centre for special education, and on the new library. All staff members are helping us organise this festival and they have been assigned targets that they need to achieve.”