(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) The new three-storey building of French school Lyce Louis Massignon here was inaugurated on Monday night. The school underwent expansion to accommodate additional 550 students.
At the inauguration, Edouard Courtial, Minister In-Charge of French nationals abroad, commended the contribution made by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) in the expansion of the French school.
"With an increasing number of French people living in Abu Dhabi, there is an obvious need (for) more schools. Yet, these are not only dedicated to French nationals, but must benefit other community members and nationalities across Abu Dhabi. I am particularly grateful to the Adec for their support and for their confidence in our education model," said Courtial.
The school currently has 1,700 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12, among whom approximately 50 per cent are French nationals and
10 per cent are Emiratis.
"We are pleased to witness expansion plans in renowned schools such as Lyce Louis Massignon, which helps encourage our Emirati youth to develop trilingual skills. The Adec and Lyce Louis Massignon have agreed to accommodate 35 Emirati students in the next seven years and offer them schooling facilities from KG to Grade 12," said Dr Mugheer Al Khaili, Director-General of the Adec. The 4,000-sq-m new school building consists of two school restaurants, one 70-seat library, two meeting rooms, six science laboratories, three rooms for scientific experiments with computers, two rooms for science collections, three IT rooms, 11 general classrooms and four rooms for history and geography.
Lyce Louis Massignon was founded before 1972 under the Petroleum Company (Socit des Ptroles) management. In October 1972, a 'School of the French Companies' was created accommodating classroom spaces for 30-40 pupils. By September 1981, the school moved to a new location, accommodating classroom spaces for 700 children.
By February 1982, the new building was officially inaugurated by French Minister of Foreign Affairs and was named Lyce Louis Massignon.
