'People do not see them as foreigners here. The parents tell me that when they land at the airport, they are seen as one of the locals,' he said.
The schools' wide offering of Indian and international curricula, including the International Baccalaureate, is also a big plus for parents who may relocate elsewhere in a few years.
\======================================
Campus No. 3 for Indian school
With Balestier campus, Global Indian International School's student intake now tops 4,000
By Jane Ng & Nilanjana Sengupta
Former Indian president Abdul Kalam placing a garland around a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the official opening ceremony of the Global Indian International School's campus in Balestier, its third in Singapore yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
IT STARTED with 48 students in 2002. Six years on, the Global Indian International School (GIIS) has more than 4,000 students at three campuses.
And although there are about 2,000 vacancies at its campuses in Balestier, Queenstown and East Coast, school chairman Atul Temurnikar expects to fill them in the next year or two, with the growing Indian expatriate community here.
Busy two days here
IT HAS been a busy two days for India's former president, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who met students and political and community leaders here.
On Tuesday, he received an honorary doctor of engineering degree from Nanyang Technological University.
... more
The school's growth has not been limited to Singapore - since 2006, it has expanded to the region and now has 17,000 students attending 14 schools in countries such as Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand.
Next year, it will open another campus in Jakarta.
With 200,000 Indian nationals in Singapore, demand is expected to grow further even as its third campus here, in Balestier, was opened officially yesterday by former Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
Two other Indian schools, NPS and DPS International, have experienced similar growth.
DPS International, which started in 2004 with 169 students, currently has more than 1,700 students on its Kovan campus. It is planning to open another campus on the East Coast by next year.
Principal Charanjit Gill said there is a 'huge demand' for places and he has received numerous queries, via e-mail and the school's website, from Indian expatriates who are looking to relocate here for work.
One reason for the popularity of Singapore as a destination is its cultural familiarity, said GIIS' Mr Temurnikar.
'People do not see them as foreigners here. The parents tell me that when they land at the airport, they are seen as one of the locals,' he said.
The schools' wide offering of Indian and international curricula, including the International Baccalaureate, is also a big plus for parents who may relocate elsewhere in a few years.
There is a big number of international students at GIIS, including South Koreans, Americans and Taiwanese.
Yesterday, more than 1,500 students, parents and teachers looked on as Dr Kalam laid a garland on a statue of Mahatma Gandhi and declared the school officially open.
Dr Kalam, who regaled the younger pupils with stories from his youth and got them to recite several verses on knowledge, righteousness and courage after him, also took questions from students.
One of them, Isha Ravichandran from Standard 4 who attends school at GIIS' Queenstown campus, asked Dr Kalam, who studied aeronautical engineering: 'A great scientist or a great president - which role is more satisfying and why?'
His simple reply: 'To be a good teacher.'
In the afternoon, he addressed a different audience - 400 people who gathered at the Pan Pacific Hotel to hear him talk about the dynamics of national development.
Organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the CII India Business Forum, the lecture focused on 'India 2020' - Dr Kalam's vision to transform India into an economically developed nation by the year 2020. By then, there should be no Indians living below the poverty line and the literacy rates should be nearly 100 per cent.
Highlighting technology and innovation as key investments for development, Dr Kalam cited the Global Innovation Index and the Global Competitiveness Index of 2007, both of which ranked Singapore seventh and India 23rd and 45th respectively.
'Growth competitiveness is determined by the innovative ability of an organisation. This innovation arises from institutional initiative and the research and development productivity of the firm,' he said.
He praised Singapore as a prosperous and clean nation that had innovation as the foundation in all aspects of national thinking and action, and said India is moving towards improving its innovation ranking to within the top five and its competitive ranking to within the top 10 in the next five years.
To achieve his vision, Dr Kalam outlined five closely related areas in which India needs to progress in an integrated manner: agriculture and food processing; education and health care; information and communication technology; infrastructure; and self-reliance in critical technologies.
If developed in a coordinated way, these areas will lead to food, economic and national security, he said.
[email protected]
The schools' wide offering of Indian and international curricula, including the International Baccalaureate, is also a big plus for parents who may relocate elsewhere in a few years.
\======================================
Campus No. 3 for Indian school
With Balestier campus, Global Indian International School's student intake now tops 4,000
By Jane Ng & Nilanjana Sengupta
Former Indian president Abdul Kalam placing a garland around a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the official opening ceremony of the Global Indian International School's campus in Balestier, its third in Singapore yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
IT STARTED with 48 students in 2002. Six years on, the Global Indian International School (GIIS) has more than 4,000 students at three campuses.
And although there are about 2,000 vacancies at its campuses in Balestier, Queenstown and East Coast, school chairman Atul Temurnikar expects to fill them in the next year or two, with the growing Indian expatriate community here.
Busy two days here
IT HAS been a busy two days for India's former president, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who met students and political and community leaders here.
On Tuesday, he received an honorary doctor of engineering degree from Nanyang Technological University.
... more
The school's growth has not been limited to Singapore - since 2006, it has expanded to the region and now has 17,000 students attending 14 schools in countries such as Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand.
Next year, it will open another campus in Jakarta.
With 200,000 Indian nationals in Singapore, demand is expected to grow further even as its third campus here, in Balestier, was opened officially yesterday by former Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
Two other Indian schools, NPS and DPS International, have experienced similar growth.
DPS International, which started in 2004 with 169 students, currently has more than 1,700 students on its Kovan campus. It is planning to open another campus on the East Coast by next year.
Principal Charanjit Gill said there is a 'huge demand' for places and he has received numerous queries, via e-mail and the school's website, from Indian expatriates who are looking to relocate here for work.
One reason for the popularity of Singapore as a destination is its cultural familiarity, said GIIS' Mr Temurnikar.
'People do not see them as foreigners here. The parents tell me that when they land at the airport, they are seen as one of the locals,' he said.
The schools' wide offering of Indian and international curricula, including the International Baccalaureate, is also a big plus for parents who may relocate elsewhere in a few years.
There is a big number of international students at GIIS, including South Koreans, Americans and Taiwanese.
Yesterday, more than 1,500 students, parents and teachers looked on as Dr Kalam laid a garland on a statue of Mahatma Gandhi and declared the school officially open.
Dr Kalam, who regaled the younger pupils with stories from his youth and got them to recite several verses on knowledge, righteousness and courage after him, also took questions from students.
One of them, Isha Ravichandran from Standard 4 who attends school at GIIS' Queenstown campus, asked Dr Kalam, who studied aeronautical engineering: 'A great scientist or a great president - which role is more satisfying and why?'
His simple reply: 'To be a good teacher.'
In the afternoon, he addressed a different audience - 400 people who gathered at the Pan Pacific Hotel to hear him talk about the dynamics of national development.
Organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the CII India Business Forum, the lecture focused on 'India 2020' - Dr Kalam's vision to transform India into an economically developed nation by the year 2020. By then, there should be no Indians living below the poverty line and the literacy rates should be nearly 100 per cent.
Highlighting technology and innovation as key investments for development, Dr Kalam cited the Global Innovation Index and the Global Competitiveness Index of 2007, both of which ranked Singapore seventh and India 23rd and 45th respectively.
'Growth competitiveness is determined by the innovative ability of an organisation. This innovation arises from institutional initiative and the research and development productivity of the firm,' he said.
He praised Singapore as a prosperous and clean nation that had innovation as the foundation in all aspects of national thinking and action, and said India is moving towards improving its innovation ranking to within the top five and its competitive ranking to within the top 10 in the next five years.
To achieve his vision, Dr Kalam outlined five closely related areas in which India needs to progress in an integrated manner: agriculture and food processing; education and health care; information and communication technology; infrastructure; and self-reliance in critical technologies.
If developed in a coordinated way, these areas will lead to food, economic and national security, he said.
[email protected]
