New 'Indian' school to open in Bahrain
Manama, March 13, 2014
Classes will get underway at a new school in Bahrain next month.
The Bahrain Indian School campus is located in Abu Saiba, off the Budaiya Highway, and its slogan is "No Homework and No Private Tuition," said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.
It is hoping to enroll at least 200 students before lessons start and it is the seventh in the GCC under the management of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, India.
The opening of the school was announced yesterday during a press conference at Hotel Diva, Juffair.
It hopes to accommodate up to 2,000 students in 125 classrooms, but has a policy that students will be banned from doing homework and getting private tuition.
The school plans to expand in the next five years and open a new senior campus.
"There is no homework and no tuition for our students and our teachers can't tutor privately either," said Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Middle East chairman NK Ramachandran.
"School is a place to learn, not home. It doesn't mean there will be nothing for the student to take home, but it means that home time is for revision.
"It is our duty as a school to teach and students to learn.
"Students should not need private tuition if we are doing our job right and we will instruct parents not to give their children tuition.
"If there is a problem or the child has problems grasping the subject, we have different class levels that they can attend and the school can solve any issues of that nature.
"The whole point is we want students to learn, not just memorise, so that they can become future world leaders."
With numerous schools in Bahrain catering to Indian students, board members say they are confident of attracting pupils.
"As I understand, there are very large waiting lists in Indian schools in the country, so there is a need for more schools to open that offer the same or higher standard of education," said Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan board member Sooraj Ramachandran.
"We have already proved ourselves in the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman so we know that what we do as a school works. We are not competing, just offering a service to the community."
The school is due to start admissions for the academic year 2014-15 for kindergarten one classes to grade four and will initially accept a maximum of 500 students.
Parents who want to enrol their children can do it online.
Also present at the press conference were designated Bahrain Indian School principal Dr Heena Rachh, and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan board members Himanshu Verma and Rita Verma. - TradeArabia News Service
