Six new Indian schools in Oman to end double shifts

Muscat: Indian schools will scrap the afternoon shift after the expansion plans that will include the opening of six more schools in Oman, school officials said.
Around 3,000 students attend afternoon shifts in various schools in Muscat.
Speaking exclusively to the Times of Oman, Wilson George, chairman, Board of Directors, Indian schools in the Sultanate of Oman, said these schools are being planned for Al Ansab, Amerat, Barka, Duqm, Saham and Sinaw.
“The construction work for the Al Ansab school will begin from the third quarter of this year as we have already got then clearance from all authorities concerned,” he said. The school plans to admit around 2,000 children.
In Amerat and Barka, the Board has found an investor to support us with the construction and providing the school building on a rental basis and final negotiations are going on.
“And in areas like Barka, Duqm, Saham and Sinaw, the Board is conducting a feasibility study as to where to start the schools,” said George, who has been re-elected as the chairman of the Indian School Board.
He said the feeder school in Ghubra has started operating from this academic year. “Around 240 children from the Indian School Muscat in kindergarten 1 (KG 1) have been admitted this year,” he added. With this, we have been able to offer admissions to all the students who had applied this year.
Wilson said all the six schools will start operating in the next five years, which will take the pressure off from the six schools in the capital. “This will also help us reduce the class size, which is touching 50 in some schools this year,” he added.
Talking about the feeder school in Ghubra, which was supposed to start classes KG1, KG2 and Class 1 in couple of years ago, George said, “We wanted to start it earlier, but could not get all the clearances in time. We are very happy that it is now running this year.”
“We impart education to 43,000 pupils at the moment,” he said, adding that the arrival of young Indian expatriates in the country had created an unprecedented rush for admissions in the lower classes from KG to Standard 1.
With almost 9,300 students, the Indian School Muscat in the Darsait area, one of the oldest institutes in the country, has started working on several aspects to cut down on the number because of the growing traffic in that area. “With these (new) schools, we hope that the number at ISM will be cut down,” he said.

Parents are, meanwhile, very happy. “Nobody wanted the afternoon shift. It is a good decision to scrap it,” said Vimina, a parent.