• Home
• /
• Education

Dh1.5 million fund at IHS is first for ME schools

Indian High School (IHS), the city’s largest non-profit school, has set out to create a school endowment fund with the support of school students, alumni and patrons.

Aimed at helping infrastructure development, long-term investment programmes and providing students with scholarships, the fund is the first of its kind for any school in the Middle East.

Donors have already contributed Dh1.5 million to the education endowment fund, with large contributions coming from former students at the school.

Dr Abdulla Al Karam, M. K. Lokesh, Dr L.M. Pancholia and Mohan Valrani at the launch of the IHS Endowment Fund.

Chairman of Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) Dr Abdulla Al Karam lauded the initiative saying: “This is the first time an endowment fund has been set up for a school in this region. School education in Dubai started from community-based schools and setting up these funds can help in the continued development of these non-profit schools.”

He added that the fund would succeed because of the school’s long ‘credible’ history with goodwill among its students.

Dr L.M. Pancholia, the school’s chairman said, the endowment fund was a “formal channel to receive the goodwill that the school has generated” and a majority of the donors are from the schools lustrous alumni.

Individuals and businesses, who have contributed more than Dh100,000, have their names inscribed on a special brick wall inside the school. School students from the current batch also led the way in supporting their alma mater with a contribution of Dh10,000, presented by the school’s head boy and head girl.

Expressing his happiness at the launch CEO of Indian High School Ashok Kumar said: “The fund will benefit future generations, enabling schools to offer the best possible service to their communities through low fees and generous scholarships.”

He also cited that the school was seeking ways to reach out to families at all economic levels in the community while limiting fee increases.

More than 400 students from the school’s graduating batch were presented certificates in the presence of M.K. Lokesh, Ambassador of India to UAE and Sanjay Verma, Consul General of India to Dubai as well as former IHS chairman Mohan Valrani.

The school, which has close to 10,000 students on its roll, continues to remain one of the most affordable Indian schools in Dubai. It has been consistently rated outstanding for two consecutive years by the Dubai School Inspection Bureau (DSIB), which is the highest rating accorded by the body.

muaz@khaleejtimes.com