Muscat: More than 7,000 seats across Indian schools in the capital are available to new students seeking admission, with online registration for prospective students to begin on 26 January.

“The centralised admission system with online registration introduced by the board of directors, Indian schools in Oman has facilitated the entire admission process, making it convenient for parents and schools to take care of the rush for admissions,” said a statement from the board.

Online registration for admissions is applicable to seven Indian schools in the capital area: Bausher, Muscat, Darsait, Al Wadi Al Kabir, Al Ghubra, Al Seeb, and Al Maabela.

Of the 7,338 slots available from kindergarten to grade IX students seeking admission, 2,100 are in Indian School Muscat. Wadi Kabir has some 1,440 seats.

There are also plenty of seats available in Maabela (740), Al Seeb (1,100), and Indian School Bausher (779). There are far fewer seats in Indian School Al Ghubra (359), while Indian School Darsait has some 820 slots for new admissions. Across the board, the maximum number of places for new admissions are in kindergarten.

While previous years have roughly seen between 4,500 and 5,000 slots available to new admissions, the large numbers of families who returned to India during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to more seats being up for grabs.

“The number of vacancies in kindergarten has always been the same,” said a member of the board of directors. “Indian School Muscat used to offer as many as 600 vacancies earlier- 300 in the morning shift and 300 in the afternoon shift.

However, this year, there are more vacancies because of the exodus of students to India.”

Admission is open to children of Indian and other expatriate communities with valid resident visas. Children who have completed three years as of 1 April are eligible for kindergarten admission.

Admissions for children with special needs are open at Care and Special Education which is located on the Indian School Muscat premises. Parents can approach the CSE administration directly for admission (www.cseoman.com).

Considering the COVID pandemic situations, admission procedures have been made completely online. Parents, therefore, do not have to visit the schools for submission of documents, or remittance of fees.

The closing date for online registration is 28 February 2022. More details on the admission process are available at http://indianschoolsoman.com/our-services/admission-2022-23.

Regarding admission to classes X and XII, the board official said, “Under the norms of the CBSE, there are no direct admissions to these classes. But parents can contact us, should their children require admission in such cases.”