Exclusive: Indian schools in Oman will now take students of all nationalities

Muscat: Children of all nationalities will be allowed to seek admission to Indian schools in Oman for the new academic term.

A member of the Board of Directors of Indian Schools in Oman has said that the decision to allow expatriate students of all nationalities was taken owing to the large number of seats now available in Indian schools in the country. There are roughly 39,000 students learning at Indian schools, down from a peak of about 46,000.

“However, we will only know the actual number of students once we resume physical classes next term,” said the board member. “What has happened is that many of our students went home to India during the pandemic, and continued their online learning from there. A final count can therefore only be taken once they come back.

“The reason we have opened admission to children of all nationalities is because we now have many places in our schools,” he added. “This is for two reasons: First, many expatriates left Oman during the pandemic, and second, we have opened a new school in Bausher that gives us the ability to accommodate more children.

“As a community school system for Indians in Oman, a majority of our students are Indians, and although we always encourage students of other nationalities to join us, there was simply no place to accommodate them because there were no seats available. Even the Indian students were forced to seek admission elsewhere.”

Non-Indian students who wish to seek admission to Indian schools must provide a transfer certificate and report card from their previous school when they apply for admission. Furthermore, a no-objection certificate from the embassy of the country to which the child belongs must also be obtained.

School staff will then meet the child to see if they fit all the requirements for admission. In some cases, children could also be asked to take an admission test that will test their basic knowledge across a number of subjects.

Admissions to Indian schools from kindergarten to grade IX are currently open. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all admissions procedures by parents and children are required to be done online, at www.indianschoolsinoman.com/admit.aspx.

“However, Omani students are not allowed admission, as directives from the Ministry of Education state that they must be educated in their own schools,” said the board member. “As a community school network, we can only admit them under some exceptional circumstances.”