(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The first campus of the GD Goenka Private Schools in Sharjah was officially launched on July 7. The school will throw open its doors to students on September 8, aiming to set new benchmarks in education.
The launch was attended by Sanjay Verma, Consul General of India; Tiju Thomas, Consul Education, Indian Consulate; and Dr. Ibrahim Saad, Director of the Fujairah Statistics Centre and other dignitaries.
The school, a franchise of the GD Goenka Public school in New Delhi, India, follows the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) curriculum and will begin classes for KG1, KG2, and Grades 1 to 4. The fee falls under a mid-level structure ranging from Dhs 12, 000 to Dhs 14,000 annually, inclusive of school uniform and books.
The group opened its first school in 1994 and runs educational institutions from pre-school to post-graduate institutions. The GD Goenka Private School, Sharjah, a not-for-profit school, according to school authorities is brought in the UAE by the Gulf Petrochem Group and is the first of a group of schools which will be launched in the near future.
The notable point of the newly launched school however, is the rigorous recruitment campaigns which have been in place for the last five weeks. Teachers have to undergo an extensive written test, interview and group discussion, and those who clear the test and discussion will make it to a panel interview with three school authorities, according to Mark Parkinson executive director and head of schools of the newly opened GD Goenka Private School in Sharjah. "A few of the faculty members for the school will be brought in from India for the academic year 2014-15, but right now we are doing most of the recruitment locally," added Parkinson.
"We are aiming at bringing together a strong team of educators who will then undergo extensive pre-service and in-service training to ensure that quality and standards are of the highest. The recruitment process lasts typically for about five hours," he said.
The teaching methodology will aim at holistic development of students in personal, emotional, physical and cognitive aspects. The school will incorporate an inquiry-oriented learning as opposed to exam-oriented learning.
Though the school should have ideally opened in April, which is the beginning of the academic year, school officials said that they were working to complete all legal formalities before launching the school. Admissions are ongoing and admissions for the academic year 2014-15 will begin in the month of October.
CG Sanjay Verma said: "Schools today have to follow a concept of unlearning. Learning needs to be a lifelong process and what is gospel truth today must change tomorrow. Students must also be taught empathy in the classrooms."
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.