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The Indian International School, Dubai Silicon Oasis
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Review

The Indian International School, Dubai Silicon Oasis

by December 20, 2015

The Indian International High School DSO is a private K-12 school located in Dubai Silicon Oasis.

Established in 2011, the school is part of a group of three schools that also include The Indian High School Junior Campus in Al Garhoud and The Indian High School Senior Campus in Oud Metha.

Confusingly, the Indian International School was previously known as “The International Indian School” and, prior to this,  “The Indian High School Silicon Valley,” presumably to leverage the reputation of its sister schools.

Given, however, that the Indian International School has achieved only an “Acceptable” rating in all four of its inspections since opening, it is likely that the parent group is now seeking to distance the school from its more successful counterparts.

It is worth noting that the school is now blocking parents who try and use entrance into the school as a way to gain entrance into the Indian High School by the back door – there is no longer any internal transfer of students between the Indian International School DSO and Indian High School.

The school currently has close to 2000 students from KG1 to Grade 8, although it was established with the capacity to educate 3000 students so prospective parents should be aware that the school, at least on it original plans, could increase in size very significantly. Since opening, it has already added Grades 6-8.

The Indian International School DSO is affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi.

The school includes an obligatory and non-refundable 500 AED application fee and we agree with WhichSchoolAdvisor.com that the application process is over complicated and convoluted.

GEMS_INARTICLE  

The 2015 Inspection continues to highlight that The Indian International School DSO offers a very generic educational approach in which, excepting at KG levels, there is little, if any, matching of the curriculum to the varied and individual needs of students, whether they have Special Educational Needs or otherwise.

Within the 2015 inspection, notwithstanding that there has been progress since opening, the school’s leadership recognised that “there is still a lot to do.”

Much is possibly explained by the school’s positioning of itself as being “set up to offer an affordable and value education to all its students.” The difficulty is that low fees are no justification for a less than good standard of education for the children under any school’s care.

Our view, however, is that improvements at KG level show some potential for the school to begin delivering to the standards of its sister schools. The expansion of the school has been simply too rapid to deliver these quickly – and the investment required to bring these forward not forthcoming.

The school does have good facilities, but these do not in themselves make a good school.

We hope that any move to extend educational provision at The International Indian High School DSO is stifled until education to current Grade 8 level is placed at least on a “Good” if not “Outstanding” basis.

As it stands, on current performance, that required attainment/improvement is some way off.

Prospective parents of KG level children will be gambling that, in the next two years, changes can be rapid enough to ensure a good standard of education for their children as they move beyond Kindergarten.

Note 1: For KG1, admissions are granted only to students who are residents of Dubai; the school is specific about refusing any application for children from wither Sharjah or Ajman.

Note 2: Between KG2 and KG8 applications will be considered from outside Dubai.

Go to the FULL REVIEW on WhichSchoolAdvisor.com

 

 

Details to consider
Type of school

Private not-for-profit

Full WSA Review
Average Cost Per Year

FS1: 8,300
FS2: 8,300
YEAR 1: 8,900
YEAR 2: 8,900
YEAR 3: 8,900
YEAR 4: 8,900
YEAR 5: 9,700
YEAR 6: 9,700
YEAR 7: 14,000
YEAR 8: 14,000
YEAR 9: NA
YEAR 10: NA
YEAR 11: NA
YEAR 12: NA
YEAR 13: NA

Curriculum

CBSE-I

External Exam Boards

IBT

Selective

Yes from KG2

Value Added

Not published

Number of Students

1898

Teacher to Student Ratio

1:25

Largest nationality teachers

Indian

Teacher turnover

25%

Year opened

2011

Location

Nad Al Sheba, Silicon Oasis, Dubai

Student composition

Indian (largest nationality)

Gender

Mixed

School canteen

Yes

Admissions Telephone

+971 04 3423909

Web Address
Attainment Nur SEM

66%

Attainment Pri SEM

50%

Attainment Sec SEM

NA

Attainment Post-16 SEM

NA

Progress Nur SEM

66%

Progress Pri SEM

50%

Progress Sec SEM

NA

Progress Post-16 SEM

NA

Arabic Native Primary Results (Native)

NA

Arabic Secondary Results (Native)

NA

Arabic Post-16 Results (Native)

NA

Arabic Primary Results (Add.)

62.5%

Arabic Secondary Results (Add.)

NA

Arabic Post-16 Results (Add.)

NA

Islamic St. Primary Results

75%

Islamic St. Secondary Results

NA

Islamic St. Post-16 Results

NA

Leadership

50%

Community

75%

Facilities

75%

Strengths

• The quality of education at Kindergarten, especially in English and science, is genuinely good
• Students show good levels of commitment to their work, and support each other across all levels of the school
• The school is making slow but steady incremental progress in making necessary improvements in educational provision
• Facilities at the school are relatively good – and the grounds are well maintained
• Across all phases of education, students’ have a good understanding of – and appreciation for - the positive effects of Islamic values on life in Dubai
• Day-to-day operational management of the school is efficient and effective

Weaknesses

• Teaching and learning do not consistently ensure that the curriculum is matched to individual need – this is particularly although not uniquely an issue for those children with Special Educational Needs [SEN]
• Strategic leadership of the school is only operating at an acceptable level; change has been too rapid and leadership investment too little to effectively engage in any meaningful way with macro-level decision making beyond ensuring that the school can function effectively at a day-to-day basis

Rating
Our Rating
User Rating
Rate Here
Academic
D
C+
Value
C-
C+
ExtraCurricula
D+
C+
Languages
D
C+
Sports
D
C+
Arts & Drama
D+
C+
Teaching
D-
C-
Communications
D-
C
Warmth
B+
C
Differentiation
D
C
SEND Provision
D-
C+
Scl Community
B
C+
Scl Facilities
C+
C+
Opportunities

• There is much to recommend The International Indian High School DSO, in particular Science and Art educational provision at KGS 1 and 2, some inspiring Islamic teaching, good value fees and particularly good facilities for a school of this fee level.
• However, these recommendations must be heavily qualified by ongoing weaknesses in strategic management, these in all likelihood caused by too rapid growth in student numbers and provision.
• At KGS level the school does have real promise, but parents who choose The International Indian High School DSO must be aware that this is not currently replicated beyond kindergarten.
• This said, achievement and management at sister schools shows that it is likely, over time, that performance will improve.
• Improvements need to be sooner rather than later if The International Indian High School DSO is to ensure that current students, and the many parents who have invested the school with the responsibility of educating their children, are not to be let down.

D
Our Rating
C
User Rating
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About The Author
Jon Westley
Jon Westley is the Editor of SchoolsCompared.com and WhichSchoolAdvisor.com UK. You can email him at jonathanwestley [at] schoolscompared.com
2 Comments
  • Gouri
    September 29, 2017 at 11:10 pm
    Strengths

    Facilities are nice

    Weaknesses

    Homework

    Good school

  • alex
    January 16, 2018 at 9:38 am
    Weaknesses

    no care no attention no foundation skills

    In my view this school cannot be recommended at all for beginners. It doesn’t concentrate on the foundation skills, and has exams unnecessarily. It does not check if your child is drinking water or has food for the whole day. We have to pressurize our child to study, study, study rather than help him understand concepts. Kids should be taught basics first, then, if a teacher changes it does not matter.

    – This comment has been edited.

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Academic
Value
ExtraCurricula
Languages
Sports
Arts & Drama
Teaching
Communications
Warmth
Differentiation
SEND Provision
Scl Community
Scl Facilities