| The Indian School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Isa Town, Bahrain | |
| Information | |
| Motto | तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय (tamaso mā jyotirgamaya) (Lead me from darkness to light) |
| Established | 1950 |
| Status | Open |
| Chairman | Mr. Abraham John |
| Principal | Mr. V R Palaniswamy Ms. Ravina Gandhi |
| Number of students | 8000 |
| Website | [http://www.indianschool.bh |
The Indian School, is a CBSE affiliated school located in Bahrain. It is one of the largest expatriate schools in the Persian Gulf region, with a strength of around 9000 students across two campuses.
The school provides an education to children of Indian origin living in Bahrain, although students of other nationalities are also admitted. The school gives the students an appreciation for Indian culture and traditions.
The school is the first in Bahrain and the third in the Persian Gulf to get an ISO 9001:2000 certificate. It is one of the first schools (alongside Al Noor International School and others) to start multimedia teaching, which combines auditory and visual forms of communication to provide an all-round education, from 6th to 8th classes in Bahrain. 'Souza both acquiring 97.8 percentage.
The principals of the School are Mr. V R Palaniswamy and Ms. Ravina Gandhi, and the chairman is Mr. Abraham John.
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The school was started, in 1950, with a workforce of three staff and a Headmistress. One of the three staff members was an Indian, Mrs. Vasanthi Rao, whose husband Mr. Athavar Krishna Rao was working for British Petroleum in Bahrain.
The school is divided into two campuses, one in Sitra and Isa Town with a combined strength of over 8000 students. The campus in Sitra is for students from LKG to 3rd grade. The campus in Isa Town is for students from 4th to 12th grade.
The school is an independent institution. The Executive Committee is elected by the parents of the students enrolled in the school and is responsible for the running and maintenance of the school including its finances. There has been controversy surrounding the previous administration, after there had been an overflow of funds to the construction of the new Shaikh Isa Block, which put the school in considerable debt. This issue is being resolved by the current administration which has employed cost-cutting measures.
The Isa Town campus consists of six blocks, most of which are named after notable dignitaries from Indian history; the previous most recent block to be built, however, was the Shaikh Isa Block completed in 2009. It has classrooms for 11th and 12th grade including Chemistry, Biology, Biotechnology and Physics Labs. Most grades have around 14 sections (A-N) consisting of around 35 students each. The campus also includes a football field, an outdoor basket ball court, an auditorium cum indoor badminton court which houses tables for table tennis. The most recent block to be built was The Diamond Jubilee Block, which was completed in late 2011.
The school fees vary from B.D. 20 to about B.D. 50 per month. There are air conditioned bus services to all parts of the Kingdom, which costs an additional B.D. 11.
The school follows the CBSE system of education and is one of the two schools on the island to offer CBSE education all the way up to 12th grade. The curriculum is in compliance with the Central Board program of New Delhi and offers courses that are considered to be equivalent to college-level courses in many countries.
The school offers students Science, Commerce and Humanities streams in 11th and 12th.
The school has collaborated with a training institute from India, FIITJEE, to give a more rigorous level of education for the students, for success in the entrance examinations across the world. However after three years of a joint venture, FIITJEE backed out due to apparent differences with the school management.
The school used to host two competitions annually - Rithu and Harmony. Rithu, was the intra-school competition while Harmony, the inter school compeyition. Both competitions tested skills like pencil drawing, painting, Western and Cinematic Dance, Western Band and Debate. Schools both in Bahrain and the other GCC countries participated in Harmony.
Since 2009, the school has stopped hosting Harmony, citing the reason that over importance on extra curricular activities was affecting the academic performance of the students.