Sharjah Indian School goes on single shift

Eighteen months after the UAE Ministry of Education threatened to close down the Sharjah Indian School for operating classes in shifts, the school has announced the completion of its Dh9 million expansion.

The school has completed the construction of 52 new classrooms and will be operating in one single shift, its principal KR Radhakrishnan Nair said.

Speaking to Emirates 24|7 he said, “The construction work was completed ahead of schedule and well within the budget. Although we had contracted the work for Dh9m, the job was completed with half a million to spare,” he said.

The school, which is run by the Indian Association in Sharjah was warned by the ministry last year for running evening shifts.

“With the construction work complete, we have returned to a single shift system,” he added.

More popular among the low and middle-income group Indian expatriates, demand for admissions has increased in 2010.

“By the end of last year we had about 7,300 students studying here. At present we have about 8,317 students enrolled with us. The waiting list for admissions is even more. We are not able to accommodate every one,” said Nair.

Starting next year the school also plans to introduce the Indian Central Board of Secondary Education’s International Curriculum.

“We plan to start it in a phased manner. Starting with the first standard in the next academic year it will move up a grade each every year,” he said.

The fee structure for the international syllabus would also change. “We are talking about a teacher student ratio of about 1:15. Naturally the overheads will increase,” he added.