Kamal Gupta COO, Global Schools Foundation, talks about the vision of the organisation in shaping tomorrow’s global citizens in a tete-a-tete with Dr Ravi Gupta, Editor-in-Chief, Digital Learning magazine

What is the vision of Global School Foundation and how it started?

Guided by the motivation to become a global role model for teaching and learning, the Global Schools Foundation (GSF) works towards empowering students to become global citizens of the world. GSF is a social entrepreneurial initiative, which uses innovative principles to organise, create and manage a social benefit programme.

Established in Singapore in 2002 as a social entrepreneurial initiative, the foundation is led by Chairman and Co-founder Atul Temurnikar under the guidance of GSF President Chandu Borde, former captain of the Indian National Cricket team and a Padma Bhushan (India’s third highest civilian award) and Padma Shri awardee. Nurturing students to become leaders of distinction through high quality, value-based education, the foundation looks after its member institutions that provide schooling and socio-cultural training bound by strong Gandhian values. The member institutions include award-winning international school – Global Indian International School (GIIS) – with 20 campuses across 7 countries – Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, the UAE, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and India.

With the launch of Global Indian International School Abu Dhabi, GSF has ambitious plans of expansion, particularly in the Middle East. The Abu Dhabi campus, with state-of-the-art infrastructure is spread over 20,640 sq. m.creating a network of innovative, student-centered spaces in a safe and welcoming environment. The campus aims to offer parents value for money through a tailored school fee structure, designed as a gesture to the cooperation of Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) and the UAE Government.

Global Indian International School operates in different cultural geographies, like Singapore, India, Japan and Malaysia. How do you customise the curriculum across various countries?

At Global Indian International School (GIIS), our endeavour to amalgamate diverse cultures, perspectives and facilitate knowledge sharing to foster a holistic learning experience across geographies has been consistent since inception. We encourage students to consider their responsibilities towards their community and to the world around them, by creating conceptual and practical connections.

Holding strong academic credentials and vast teaching experience, GIIS’ faculty forms the backbone of the school’s vision. GIIS students, over the years, have secured exemplary achievements in academic and nonacademic spheres. GIIS encourages the use of technology in the classroom and to maintain open communication, making learning a fascinating experience at GIIS. Both international and Indian curricula are offered at GIIS and include IB Diploma, Cambridge IGCSE, CBSE, CBSEi and Global Montessori Plus programme. Based on the geography of the school is operating in and as per local preference, the core curriculum is decided. Around it is woven our curriculum delivery system which is demonstrated through our Nine Gems™ model, which equips our students with the skills and awareness needed for them to become ‘Global Citizens’. We measure its success in terms of its global orientation and the impact it makes on the society. By implementing the United States Excellence Standards “Malcolm Baldrige” to effect continuous improvement in the standards of their schools, we benchmark our education excellence against the best schools in the world.

Since the fi rst campus was launched in Singapore, and currently there are three campuses catering to over 4500 students, it is needless to say that GIIS is very strongly involved in the education system of Singapore and works very closely with the education bodies of the country. In Singapore, GIIS is ISO 9001:2000 certifi ed and has also been certifi ed by EduTrust and BizSafe Level 3 by Workplace Safety and Health Council (WSH) of Singapore.

“Global education is the essence of learning at Global Indian International School and our endeavour is to amalgamate diverse cultures, perspectives and facilitate knowledge sharing to foster a holistic learning experience across geographies”

With reference to local connect, GIIS Tokyo has 50 per cent local students. Japanese students learn about Indian culture and art like Bharatnatyam and Indian vocal singing while their Indian counterparts learn about Japanese culture and art like Kanji and martial arts.

Similarly, in GIIS Kuala Lumpur campus, 20 per cent students are Malaysians, 10 per cent Chinese and the rest are Indians. The cultural activities and festivals of all communities and ethnic groups are celebrated in our campuses.

How do you address the local requirements of the Middle East, given it has an altogether different set of localised requirements?

Global education being the essence of learning at GIIS, the curriculum delivery system is based on universal values and sensitivity towards the global environment. Therefore, understanding of local culture, community connections and aligning to the vision of education councils of Middle East are imperative towards imparting complete education to our students.

GIIS has been recognised in the UAE for educational excellence. GIIS was awarded the Golden Peacock in the ‘Innovative Product/ Service Award’ category for ‘Kindness Movement’ initiated at GIIS Singapore campus on the 25th World Congress on Leadership for Business Excellence & Innovation in Dubai on 20th April 2015. It was an honour to receive the award from His Highness Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, Government of UAE.

Incidentally, KHDA has recently talked about the concept of ‘Happy School’, which we have already implemented couple of years back in our Singapore and India campuses by setting parameters to measure the ‘Happiness Index’ of each student, if the Happiness Quotient is high. We know that happy children learn better.

As far as academic results are concerned, we have also produced four IB Diploma world toppers from our Singapore campus in the last few years; there were several others, who achieved almost near-perfect score of 44/45, and also IGCSE toppers. In fact, we have bagged the second prize at the Global Benchmarking Awards recently for our Singapore campus. Such feat has not been achieved by any of the schools in Dubai. We have made a mark in education in the last 10 years, and have been honored with 53 prestigious international awards by most reputed international organisations across the globe.

What are your expansion plans for the next three years?

In terms of expansion, we are keeping the Middle East on the top priority, especially locations like Qatar, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Then we will also focus on India. We are working on a long-term rental model. Our brand new campus is coming up in Singapore which will be a state-of-the-art world class infrastructure. In addition we are looking at key cities in India and selected other geographies.

Vandana Gandhi, Founder and CEO of British Orchard Nursery – the UAE’s largest nursery chain, in an interview with Dr Ravi Gupta, Editor-in-Chief, Digital Learning magazine, talks about what it took to make the Nursery what it is today, and more

What is the concept behind British Orchard Nursery?

It started a decade ago. My father supported me to conceptualise this whole system. I was the manager in a multinational bank at that time, but I was interested in education space. We have worked on the brand from the scratch. We had a British management team and followed the curriculum from the UK. We strictly follow the guidelines of quality.

“We are the fi rst company in the schooling sector, led and managed by an all-women workforce. We have been awarded by the European Foundation for Quality, and by Dubai and Abu Dhabi Government”

The government here is supportive to women and in making the life and environment conducive for working women. We are the fi rst company in the schooling sector, led and managed by an all-women workforce. We have been awarded by the European Foundation for Quality and by Dubai and Abu Dhabi Government.

You have several branches across the UAE. Are there any particular guidelines they have to follow?

We follow the government guidelines. These branches are like a corporate franchise, as they have their own infrastructure. We just support them with the curriculum and teachers. It is like a partnership in which we have to work with them and look after the needs of the children.

They also support in our CSR and Emiratisation policy, i.e. to support the country. Our nursery follows strong CSR policies. We support the local communities in many ways. This way we help Arabic children. Even Arabic children learn the high quality international British curriculum in close proximity of their working mothers.

Any mother is the toughest customer, more so for a pre-school, because in the high school, mothers drop their children and go. However, in the preschool, mothers come to drop and pick up their children. There is a high level of interaction with customers, thus a lot of transparency and communication is required. Therefore, it is very important that we have strict policies and great communication tools.

How do you ensure that these branches follow the guidelines?

This is through standardisation of policies and guidelines that we have and through the systems in place, whether it is a manual documentation system across all the branches to support each other or standardised curriculum across everywhere. All the branches across follow the three-year rolling plan, developed by us after years of research. These are individualised to a child’s learning through various inputs and assessments.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai branches follow the same weekly planning, so there is no room for deviation. Although teachers come from different parts of the world, there is consistency and structure in the entire curriculum. We have Arabic, French and Islamic Studies in the government branches, we teach values and morals and we also have activities like drama and dance — all weaved into the curriculum. We have got curriculum experts, who continuously work to make it better.

To ensure that the weekly plans are effectively followed, we have an assessment system. Every plan is linked to assessment, which the teacher has to make. If a weekly plan is completed, assessment is made and the assessment book fi lled. Mothers and teachers go through it. This way, it is a very robust model of curriculum and assessment linked to each of the topics and each child.

“We got the systems developed from the UK, based on the guidelines for nursery and preschooling followed there. This is the general preference of the UAE mothers, because when their children go to higher schools, they prefer the British national curriculum”

Is this business more of a holy business?

We don’t take it as a monotonous business. It is a child-centric system. Quality and care comes fi rst for us. The government here is great in its support system. I like the systems here, where everything is clear and transparent. There are set of norms and systems for the protection of the child, parents and school. You can easily start nursery schools in the UAE.

In India, you have big names with hundreds of nursery chains, having 50 pre-schools each, unlike Dubai. But we have got the largest chain of nurseries across the UAE, though it is not like India, because India is huge, while Dubai is a small place. British Orchard nursery got awards as we have robust systems developed the and have R&D team in place. We maintain high quality by investing in the education model, resources for the children, health and safety-certifi ed parameters.

What is your take on global practices?

International practices are great. Our team comprises women from different parts of the world. We got the systems developed from the UK, based on the guidelines for nursery and pre-schooling followed there. This is the general preference of the UAE mothers, because when their children go to higher schools, they prefer the British national curriculum. However, our team members in the R&D team comprise people from New Zealand, the US, Europe, Asia, Singapore, etc. We listen to the best practices from these countries. New Zealand has a team hierarchy curriculum, which is very nice and well-researched. We have hired experts from these curriculum, pedagogies and practices and take advice from them and incorporate their suggestions in our curriculum.

How many students are there in all?

Across our 15 branches, we have more than 2,500 students. The number of children keeps increasing as we grow. A nursery in Dubai caters to 100 children; that is the model of a nursery in Dubai.

What are your plans for the next fi ve years?

To grow within the country, both in Middle East and India, we take primary curriculum and follow quality standards. We have got awards at the government as well as national level. We have got one of the most women-friendly employee awards from the Ministry of Economy in Dubai and from Cherie Blair. It was part of the Wil Economic Forum, the leadership forum for women. We are the most womenfriendly employers and our HR policies are conducive for working women. We also want to take the model of “happy employees” and “happy children” to other parts of the world.

In the next fi ve years, we want to grow to higher levels — either to more classrooms in our own nurseries or primary education and even expansion towards Asia, Middle East and other parts of the world.

Santosh K Choubey the Chancellor of AISECT University—a higher education institution with a focus on skill development and research—speaks to Elets News Network (ENN) on the Indian Government’s policies on education, Dubai education scenario, AISECT University’s readiness for the changing times, collaborations with international institutions and more

With the changing education paradigms, how has the AISECT University adapted to the evolving times?

The AISECT University (AU) is a progressive higher education institution. Our effort is to excel in skill development and research in addition to formal education. That is why we have introduced compulsory skill courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, thereby making AU India’s first skillsbased university. Eight departments of the University have opened multiskill academies in partnership with NSDC, where over 30 skill courses are offered with an aim to create a cadre of professionals, who are industry- ready the moment they pass out from the University.

Research is another focus area for us. We have collaboration with several research centres and universities in India as well as abroad for conducting research in Renewable Energy, Material Science and Environmental Science. We also organise entrepreneur development programmes to encourage students to think in terms of starting their own enterprise. Students are motivated to go beyond classrooms and take up serious social activities. Therefore, we have adopted three nearby villages where students organise various programmes to educate people about social betterment, education, health and other vital issues. Our quest is to develop as a skill university with best research environment to produce excellent professionals with good social values.

How do you see the policy initiatives undertaken by the Government for making higher education reach the masses?

The Government has taken several steps in the right direction, like opening its universities to reach the unreached, establishing private universities in most states, introducing educational scholarships and loans for those who are unable to afford higher education, and the upcoming Government MOOCs platform ‘Swayam’ as well as encouraging higher education institutions to adopt technology in order to reach a larger segment of the population.

However, the Government needs to take some measures to encourage private participation in higher education in the non-metro areas. The norms for opening a university campus in Tier II and III cities have to be more transparent and clearer, and availability of land for setting up private universities should be made easier. Moreover, higher education in local languages should be promoted in a big way, as it will break a lot of barriers. Also, national open universities and state open universities should focus primarily on the rural and remote areas.

“Dubai is an international hub with around 80 per cent of the population comprising non- Emiratis. This allows students studying in Dubai to interact with people from diverse nationalities and learn about the businesses and cultural practices of various countries”

How is Dubai education landscape relevant to the growth plans of the AISECT University?

We are eager to explore the possibility of setting up a campus in Dubai in order to cater to the Indian diaspora residing in the Middle East. Moreover, we specialise in ICT and skills-based education. Our endeavour is to impart formal education in such a manner that students simultaneously gain knowledge and skills for a holistic educational experience which would enable them to address the industry’s need for skilled workforce as soon as they graduate. After years of experience in promoting this mode of learning across India, we would like to bring our specialised mode of education to Dubai as well.

What are the learnings from the education scenario in Dubai that the AISECT University would like to adopt?

Dubai is an international hub with around 80 per cent of the population comprising non-Emiratis. This allows students studying in Dubai to interact with people from diverse nationalities and learn about the businesses and cultural practices of various countries. We would like to bring a similar cultural experience to our University. Though we already have some international students studying at AU, we would like to see an increase in the number of international students coming to our campus. To ensure a greater experience for such students, AU offers excellent facilities in place, including a large number of technical labs, state-of-the-art hostels, antiragging and anti-sexual harassment cells and much more. However, there is always a scope for improvement and we would like to closely observe and learn from the facilities being provided to international students in Dubai and apply some of those practices in AU as well.

Are there any global collaborations that the AISECT University is looking forward to in the coming times?

AU already has international tieups, wherein we offer educational exchange, cultural exchange and research programmes in collaboration with universities like the University of Siegen (Germany), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (USA), KAIST (South Korea), ICA (Nepal), ICE WaRM (Australia), KYIV University (Ukraine) and NCTU (Taiwan). The University also has a research project in collaboration with Taiwan and IITDelhi for developing efficient material for solar cell to increase efficiency by 100 per cent. There is a project with Ukraine on earthquake prediction. In March 2016, we are holding an International Conference on Climate, Water, Environment and Energy in which more than 20 countries are participating with around 300 research papers. We will be happy to explore further international collaborations for the benefit of our students.

The Institute of Management Technology Dubai (IMT Dubai) has created courses to meet the global needs. It provides platform for budding managers to be business-ready for global as well as local markets. In an interaction with Elets News Network (ENN), Dr Rakesh Singh, Director, IMT Dubai, speaks about the opportunities for Indian universities in Dubai, marketing approach of educational institutions, IMT Dubai’s USP and the branding strategy

What is the USP of IMT?

We are the only Indian university, having accreditation from the Commission of Academic Accreditation (CAA), UAE. We have gone through a rigorous accreditation process and have to go through this every three years. We are among the few universities, who have 100 per cent Ph.D faculty members. This all sets us apart from others.

How do you develop and train your students to prepare them for placements?

We have recently taken a very different approach. We are now focusing on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions for placements. For this, we have a very well-established Middle East business emerging programme.

Now the change that IMT is going through is that all our products are acceptable to the local markets. We have adopted a unique approach. Now we are sensitising our students to the needs of the economy and industry in the MENA region. It is a great localisation of our product. We have a call, “Dubai experiences global impact”. In our Executive MBA programme, we have diversifi ed student base, largely Emi- ratis and other nationalities including Indians, Pakistanis, Germans, etc.

In terms of quality, we are one of the best institutions and have the best quality students. We want to be focused that way only. Though we want to grow in numbers, too, but our main focus would be on quality.

What is the difference in market- ing approach of educational institutions here as compared to India?

Marketing of institutions is same everywhere. It depends upon the type of segment you want to serve. For market- ing in any region, the purpose needs to be put as ‘your story’ rather than ‘my statement’. However, the market here is very unique that doesn’t require quality of institutions as a large number of institutions, who offer something, get numbers here.

If you believe in quality, you will not be at risk to manage the students. You will get a few good students, which is a good growth model for some institutions. We are conservative in marketing ourselves. However, we are changing our approach a little bit. We are not aggressive but we are con- scious of being present. I think that is the way we want go about it.

The amount of funds required to run an institution here is huge. How do you sustain with the lim- ited number of students?

We have a student base of 600 and that is not a huge number. But the fact is that we have never made losses. Com- pared to last year, we are relatively in a good position. Even when the market is declining, we are growing. We have already got admissions in our MBA and Executive MBA programmes. Intern- ship is also happening well. We have a strong internship framework, where projects have to be predefined with the company and for the students.

IMT conducts short-term exchange programmes, in which students come here on a business, academic and social tour and learn about the economy, opportunities and challenges in Dubai

The market in the UAE is highly competitive and is mainly for under- graduates. However, we are largely a postgraduate institution. We have just started at undergraduate level. We are now focussing on targeting schools of undergraduate studies. We are also looking for tie-ups with universities in the UAE to offer dual-programmes and that can lead us ahead.

At undergraduate level, the admissions have started happening in IMT. We have allowed dual-degree pro- grammes with the University of Toledo in US, and Bedfordshire University and Staffordshire University in the UK. All these are adding value to our programmes.

What are the opportunities for universities in India for collaboration with institutions in Dubai?

There are lot of opportunities in Dubai. For instance, what we do with our sister institution in IMT Ghaziabad is a brilliant initiative and also with our other sister institutions in Nagpur and Hyderabad. We conduct short-term ex- change programmes, in which students come here on a business, academic and social tour. For example, on February 21, 2016, from Nagpur, around 20-30 students are coming here. We will take them around for nine days’ business, academic and social tour of Dubai. We will take them for a tour of Burj Khalifa, Night Safari and let them also experience the nightlife in Dubai.

In addition, we have a series of lectures every day on themes like Emer- gence of Dubai, to make them learn about the economy, and opportunities and challenges in Dubai. Besides this, every day a CEO/Head of a corporate venture comes and speaks to students in the evening or morning, depending on the schedule. This becomes a part of course and students have to submit an assignment. This way it becomes a nice training opportunity for them. This we did for IMT Ghaziabad last year. Now Nagpur has signed for 42 students and Hyderabad 66 students. This programme is not free, we charge around AED 10,000 per student.

This gives me confi dence to say that other Indian universities can also create short-term programmes and collabo- rate with universities here.

What are your strategies for pro- moting your brand in the media?

We do promote IMT, but we are a little media shy. We just use the strong pipe- line of IMT Ghaziabad, where 20,000 students are in the list and that is suf- fi cient for us. In addition, we do some ads in newspapers, participate in trade fairs, etc. This year, we are changing our approach and focussing on brand- ing. We are looking at a media channel in each city to advertise and create a buzz that we are here next year.

India will be a prime market for us, as Indian students bring lot of vibrancy. Besides, Pakistani students also have the vibrancy. I expect that in another three years, all the students—be it Indian, Pakistanis or Emiratis—would look at IMT as an option and come to us. I believe, quality-wise our standards on a much higher pedestal.

Orion Group, an education technology providing company, has been offering customised solutions to some of the top education boards and universities to make their operations smooth, says Narendra Kumar, Director, Orion India Systems Private Limited, in an interaction with Elets News Network (ENN)

What are the education initiatives from Orion group?

Orion has been serving the education sector by providing out-of-the-box and custom technology solutions that offer education boards and universities a fresh look at business process automation. Orion has filed patent for two of its major inventions, usage of which brings enormous benefits to the education sector. They are:

• Orion Bundle Management Solution (BMS)
• Orion Live Ink Character Recognition Solution (OLICR)

Orion solutions are built after considering the key challenges that higher education faces today

The two solutions support the development of effective processes at below mentioned prestigious educational bodies, right from affiliations or student enrolment to examination and evaluation:

CISCE (Council for Indian School Certificate Examination):

Orion has automated end-to-end operations of the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE), one of the premier education boards in India. CISCE takes care of more than 3,000 schools under its umbrella and caters to the needs of education for lakhs of students. Key functionalities of our solution deployed at CISCE encompass Digitisation, Affiliation, Registration, Examination, Dispatch Management, Online Verification and Issuance of Duplicate Documents.

ICT (Institute of Chemical Technology):

ICT, Mumbai was established initially as the Department of Chemical Technology and gradually became one of the most important deemed universities in the country. Orion has taken care of the automation of most important functionalities, such as Attendance Management, Timetable Management, Library Management, etc., for the Institute and has been widely appreciated by the users.

Orion provides an ERP solution called CAREEVS to the education boards and universities for facilitating their end-to-end operations. It encompass several modules that automate most of the back-office and front-desk operations of school boards and universities by connecting people, processes and systems on a single platform.

CAREEVS facilitates schools or colleges to manage affiliations, candidate registrations and confirmations, examination management, evaluation management, verification and enquiry management, document receipt and dispatch management, DILO Dashboards for different stake-holders and a wide spectrum of user-friendly drill-down reports. Major beneficiaries of this innovative business solution are the school boards and universities.

How do these benefit the higher education institutions and examination regulating authorities?

The solutions are built after considering the key challenges higher education institutions face today. The solution:

• Smoothens the process of conducting examinations, registration and affiliations.
• Provides seamless connectivity between affiliated institutions
• Keeps information redundancy to the minimal
• Offers one window for complete information
• Brings transparency in the entire operation
• Reduces the risk of malpractices
• Expedites result publication
• Ensures effective monitoring and control through audit trail

How do you see the learnings from across the globe becoming applicable to the MENA region in terms of education?

Orion’s CAREEVS solution provides an impetus for the success of education across the world. There are majorly three important challenges faced by the education domain today:

• Outdated and legacy technology processes
• Resistance to embrace new technologies
• Inflexible budget for automation

Orion provides an ERP solution called CAREEVS to the education boards and universities for their end-to- end operations. It encompasses several modules that automate most of the back- office and front- desk operations of school boards and universities by connecting people, processes and systems on a single platform

Orion CAREEVS addresses all the above three challenges and assists to make the educational board or universities state-of-the-art in their stream.The MENA region faces shortage of skills in HR, IT, Finance, Marketing and Sales. CAREEVS solution alleviates some of these challenges by way of automation and simplification of business processes. The solution provides true and real value addition in terms of increasing the time for teaching as well as knowledge assimilation and reducing the time in non-productive processes imposed by legacy school technologies. The solution has the potential to completely eliminate all paper transactions and bridge the unfilled gaps existing due to lack of alternatives to human dependency. This helps educators focus on strategic business growth rather that operational and administrative issues, thus, enabling better business outcomes.

Teaching is not just about imparting textbook-based education, Amity also ensures its students’ alignment with the industry, says Dr Vajahat Hussain, CEO, Amity University, Dubai, in conversation with Dr Ravi Gupta, Editor-in-Chief, digitalLEARNING Magazine

How did the idea of opening a campus in Dubai emerge? How did the vision evolve?

I think we have been quite successful in India in providing quality education. There came a time when our foundation decided to expand our institutions outside India. Steps were taken to expand operations in the UK, Romania, Mauritius, Singapore and Middle-East, with the last one being identified as close to India and a potential market. We started with 100 students at this campus, set up by the Dubai International Academic City (DIAC), which is a member of TECOM Group, and the name given to the campus is ‘incubator campus’. This is where the foreign universities can come and incubate. And, once they settle down and decide what they want for future, then they take the next step.

In our case, the initial four years were so successful that we decided to set up the largest private university campus in Dubai that is fully owned by our foundation. Generally universities take land on lease, but we purchased it to make our commitment very clear to this nation that we are here to stay, and that we will align ourselves to the mission and vision of this country and then produce and train students who can align with the national agenda of the country. Even for the selection of our programmes, we took the help of Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) to identify the national agenda, so as to pick up the best courses to go with the same.

How has the number of students increased over the years, and what they are generally doing after completing their studies?

Beginning with 100 students, we now have 1,600 students. Three batches have passed out and are successfully employed or have gone ahead with higher education. We ensure that the student’s alignment with the industry takes place well while they are with us. It is a compulsory must-have that all the students undertake industry engagement while with us. We also work on their personality development, interview skills and social skills, so that when they face the interview, they can be recognised as professionals.

You are surrounded by brands from various regions and are facing a stiff competition from them. What is the secret of your success?

When we started with this campus (in Dubai), we made a conscious commitment to make a difference to the student community. Our focus is always to develop well-rounded graduates and that has been the major differentiator for our campus. Our well-shaped graduates are our strength. When we evaluate ourselves, we look in terms of how we are able to achieve create task-based learning, internships, students-based self-organised groups, etc. Hence, the focus is more on what we are able to deliver in terms of the student experience. We ensure overall experience, and that is what is drawing our students. We have different quality standards – we have regular visits to our campus, moderation process, international accreditation, professional bodies’ associations, etc., and all these together give a lot of inputs, that make our campus different.

When we started with this campus (in Dubai), we made a conscious commitment to make a difference to the student community. Our focus is always to develop wellrounded graduates and that has been the major differentiator for our campus here

You have various campuses in different countries. How does the knowledge sharing happen?

We have a three-country programme, where students get an opportunity to gain invaluable exposure, experience and practical knowledge by studying in three reputed institutions across three continents and get certificates from the partner universities in the UK and the US. A lot of student mobility is happening. We also take a lot of collaborative efforts across the universities among the campuses. As far as Amity is concerned, it has a long and rich experience whether it is case studies, real-time research, applied research, etc. We have very senior scientists in our campuses, and a lot of collaborations happen between the senior teams in our campuses. We have a vision that Dubai should become the hub of international faculties. You can see recruitment of international faculties from the West, but taking them to India is a bit more challenging than to bring them to Dubai. If we get them here, it is easier to take them to India for semesters. As far as our faculty exchange programme is concerned, our target is to develop Dubai as a hub of international faculty and then share it with the rest of the centres.

You are an international university now also having presence in Dubai. How are you map profiles of students from various other countries?

We have students from multiple nationalities and they have accepted us as an international university, which is not predominantly Indian. Although majority of our students are Indian, we also have students from Middle- East, the US, Canada, etc. I think what is driving us is the geographical area around us, as the economies are opening up. The student feels,m once they study here and have an exposure to the market, there would not be dearth of job opportunities around them.

What are the other arms of Amity?

We have two more arms — pre-school arm and K12 arm. The largest preschool in Dubai will be operational in September 2016. In fact, we have two pre-schools in Dubai — one towards the end of Dubai on way to Abu Dabi and the other in the premium area named Jumeirah. These are 100-children preschools. Nursing care is also available, so working mothers can leave their one-month- old children and go to work. The medical care is good enough to take care of the children throughout the day.

What makes you stand out in this sector?

I think there has been a lot of success in India itself in both these areas. Education is the only thing we are concerned with. We are a not-for-profit foundation, so we do it for a purpose and there is no reason why we should not address all the issues relating to children. This is what makes us unique. We are in all these related verticals and deliver quality. After all, it is a quality driven market.

Dr Farooq Ahmad Wasil, a doctorate degree holder specialising in education, is currently the CEO of Goldline Education, Dubai. In an interaction with Elets News Network (ENN), he shares about the importance of education, Springdales’ unique proposition, achievements and the vision

How much stress is on education in the Middle East region?

Education is not only a fundamental human right, but perhaps the most necessary element of development of any nation. Today, the literacy rate in the UAE is 90 per cent and the Government spends close to 25 per cent of the total federal spend on education. The UAE is always on the lookout to ensure quality education and has ensured accountability of institutions through inspections by external bodies.

In the 21st century, the emerging workforce of a nation needs to be well equipped with the necessary skills to ensure active participation in economic development. This is possible only if they have acquired the knowledge and competencies, such as critical thinking, problem-solving and the requisite expertise, in their respective fields of engagement.

Springdales is a pioneer in K-12 education in Dubai. What sets it apart from other institutions in the region?

• A Clear and Shared Focus: The focus is on achieving a shared vision and everyone from head of school to the learning support assistant understands their role in achieving the vision, which is developed from common beliefs, values, creating a consistent direction for all concerned through School Development Plan;
• High Standards and Expectations: All grades, subjects and individual students are assigned minimal and aspirational targets;
• Effective School Leadership: The school has effective instructional and administrative leadership which is required to implement the School Development Plan;
• High Levels of Collaboration and Communication: There is strong teamwork among teachers across all grades and with other staff. Everybody is involved and connected to each other, including parents and members of the community;
• Curriculum Aligned to International Standards: The planned and actual curricula are aligned with the essential academic learning requirements. Staff understands the role of assessments, what to measure, and how student work is evaluated; and
• Structured Monitoring: A study cycle of different assessments identifies students, who need help. More support and instructional time are provided, either during the school day or outside normal school hours, to students who need more help.

What are the major achievements and the pioneering work undertaken by your institution?

• CBSE Affiliation: Within the first two years of operation, the school got affiliated to CBSE after fulfilling all the requisites;

Springdales will grow and invest in resources to enhance the quality of education opportunities. It will also contribute positively towards the UAE Vision 2021

• Three-year Development Plan: We developed a three-year development plan and based on that school performed better in all the key areas of operation. Over 115 initiatives were introduced, and the results can be seen in the forthcoming years; and
• DAST Award: The school won DAST Award in School Transportation category, awarded by Road Transport Authority, Government of Dubai.

How does the school try to achieve Happy Learning framework of KHDA?

• Meaningful Use of ICT: Interactive Smart Board, Laptops, Ipads and web-based activities.
• Student Prefectural Board and Student Voice: Enables student express their views and concerns freely and ensures student empowerment;
• Star of the Week: Recognition and awards given to students ensure good behavior and positive environment;
• Perfect Attendance, Great Punctuality Certificates & House Points: Ensures punctuality and very good attendance;
• IDEAL Approach: Identify, Describe, Explain, Analyse and Link approach, which ensures critical thinking, problem-solving and innovation; and
• SAT: Student Achievement Tracker (Set Targets, Monitor and Support Under achievers).

What is your vision for the next three years?

• To contribute positively towards the UAE Vision 2021;
• Grow and invest resources to enhance the quality of education opportunities, comply with powerful factors determining School’s effectiveness – teaching for effective learning; curriculum; protection; care; guidance and support for students; leadership & management (four powerful factors determining School’s effectiveness as per KHDA model); and
• Continuously improve quality of educational programme and ensure two key outcomes – Student Achievement; Students’ Personal, Social Development and Innovation Skills (as per KHDA Model).
• The actions resulting from this three-year plan will directly contribute to the advancement of excellence and innovation in education at Springdales School, Dubai.