Global Indian International School, Abu Dhabi

The Global Indian International School (GIIS) opened in Abu Dhabi in 2015. The school has an excellent range of facilities and is one of the best schools in Baniyas.

The school is part of the Global Schools Foundation started in 2002. This foundation manages over 20 campuses in seven countries in Asia. Global Indian School offers a Montessori Plus curriculum at the kindergarten level, and then the CBSE curriculum for the following years. Classes are from KG1-Grade 12 and student population is over 1,600 students. The high quality of education and modern amenities makes this one of the top Indian schools in Abu Dhabi.

GIIS currently has 93 teachers supported by 18 teaching assistants and the teacher-to-student ratio is 1:23.

• Location: Baniyas
• School fee: AED 10,600 - AED 12,550
• Curriculum: CBSE
• Co-ed or segregate: Co-education
• ADEK rating: Good
• Years offered: KG - Grade 12

GIIS is in Baniyas, an urban community with many apartments and villas in Abu Dhabi. Neighbouring residential areas include:

• Al Mafraq
• Shakhbout City
• Mohammed Bin Zayed City

Bawabat Al Sharq is a residential sub-community within Baniyas district that is the closest to the school. Parents looking to rent or buy apartments and villas can check out the following options:

• Apartments for rent near GIIS
• Apartments for sale near GIIS
• Villas for rent near GIIS
• Villas for sale near GIIS

The GIIS campus is spread over an area of 191,435 sq ft. The design and architecture of the school are done in a way that allows plenty of natural light to come into the classrooms and allows students free movement through the indoor and outdoor activity centres. The list of facilities available on-campus include:

• Montessori Lab
• Library
• Kindergarten Play Area
• Indoor Temperature controlled Swimming pool
• Football Ground- Indoor and Outdoor
• Instrumental Music
• IT Lab
• Dance Room
• GCIE- Global Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (GCIE) Lab (STEAM and Robotics)
• Kiddies’ Pool
• Arts & Craft Lab
• Maths Lab
• Audio-Visual Room
• Choir room
• Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Universal Values
• Specialised Pre-primary Classroom
• Individual practice room

GIIS is behind Lulu Hypermarket, Baniyas East in Abu Dhabi.

Being part of a global community, the GIIS foundation has a rich history of providing world-class education across seven countries with more than 20 campuses since 2002. GIIS is a new school in the school zone area in Baniyas East, Abu Dhabi. Though the location is a little far from the main city centre, parents choose the school for the various advantages the school has to offer. The school tagline, “Right Knowledge, Right Opportunities and Right Guidance” summarises what the school stands for.

The school offers a lot of facilities necessary for students’ holistic development. GIIS offers the Montessori Plus curriculum at KG, and then the Indian curriculum CBSE for the following grades. GIIS has a unique 9-GEM model that uses an age-appropriate and adaptive approach to allow students to evolve as they grow.

1. Academic excellence
2. Sports excellence
3. Visual and performing arts
4. Personality development
5. Innovation and creativity
6. Entrepreneurship & leadership
7. Universal values and ethics
8. Community and care
9. Skills development

The focus in the initial years at GIIS is on developing universal values, ethics, discipline, creativity and personality development. The focus shifts in high school to academic achievement, leadership and entrepreneurial skills. The key competencies in secondary school are given high importance for vocational and career advancement.

In terms of fees, the school is one of the most affordable schools in the UAE. The school has also introduced scholarship opportunities to extend their student pool to include more gifted and talented students. The school employs highly qualified teaching staff who extend their expertise to oversee after-school activities. These activities are offered twice and week and include a variety of disciplines including sports, art, music, drama and more.

The school organises a number of events so that parents get an opportunity to interact with the school and to see their children perform and exhibit their skills.

Global International School Abu Dhabi is an all-through school.

The medium of instruction at the Global Indian International school is in English. However, in line with the recommendations of the Ministry of Education, Arabic is also taught to all students. Non-native speakers are taught from a simpler Arabic B syllabus, while native speakers are taught based on the Arabic A curriculum.

Kindergarten

An award-winning Global Montessori Plus Programme is offered for students in the early learning years. The highlights of this program include the following:

• Development of cognitive, expressive and motor skills.
• A sense of social responsibility
• Cultural awareness
• Environmental consciousness

Primary School

A Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) program is for students from Grade 1 to Grade 12. They get the opportunity to apply knowledge, principles and values to more than one academic subject simultaneously.

Students also develop a high level of reasoning skills by being introduced to complex concepts at a young age. Gradually these concepts become deeper and more advanced as the students move up a grade. An add-on program boosts students learning such as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) related material that helps students understand key concepts. From Grade 3, co-curricular activities such as swimming become part of the curriculum. The list of subjects included in the primary years at GIIS Abu Dhabi includes these:

English	Hindi
Arabic	UAE Social Studies
Islamic Studies	Maths
IT	Yoga

Secondary School

At GIIS, technology is incorporated into the curriculum as a chance to develop learning across the spectrum. Students get an interactive holistic by building a rapport with their teachers. Gifted and talented students are provided with Advanced Learning Plans to help stimulate their genius.

Examinations and tests in the secondary school are based on the assessment policy of CBSE. Students take the All India Secondary School Examination (AISSE) conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education at the end of Grade 10.

The Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) is a government entity for licensing all private education institutes and monitoring their commitment to providing high-quality service in accordance with regulations. Through the Irtiqaa Programme, ADEK carries out periodic evaluations of all schools based on six basic criteria as listed below:

1. Quality of students’ achievement
2. Quality of personal and social development as well as innovation skills of the students
3. Quality of teaching and assessment
4. Quality of curriculum
5. Quality of student safety and wellbeing, as well as the guidance and support provided to them
6. Quality of school leadership and management

In the latest inspection conducted by ADEK from 25th to 28th October 2021, the school was rated ‘Good’ for its overall performance. 

Students' attainment and progress in English, Mathematics and Science are good. 

ADEK mentions that the teaching and assessment throughout all the phases are good. The healthy and safety procedures are very good for all children. Students get good care and support at the school. The effectiveness of leadership is very good. Self-evaluation, improvement and governance are good while the school's partnership with parents and its management is very good.

The academic year of Global Indian International School, Abu Dhabi starts in the second week of April and ends in March.

• The first term starts in the second week of April and ends in the first week of July. This is followed by summer break that ends in the fourth week of August.
• The second term starts in the last week of August and ends in the second week of December. Students then go on a winter break that ends in the last week of December,
• The third term starts in the first week of January and ends in the fourth week of March.

For more information, contact the school.

Parents interested in Global Indian International School admissions can fill the enquiry form available on the school’s website. They can also collect the same from the school campus. After receiving the admission form, the school admission team contacts parents via email or phone to guide them further.

Parents can then fill out the online application form. At this stage, parents have to pay a one-time non-refundable registration fee.

After submitting the form and fee, student might have to appear for an entrance assessment before the official registration. Parents can choose the admission date and ask for further assistance by meeting the school’s admission counsellor. Once the child successfully clears the entrance assessment, the admission counsellor analyses the assessment result and guides the parents about the appropriate grade level for their child.

When the school finalises admission, parents have to pay the rest of the tuition and term fee to confirm the child’s seat and complete the registration process.

Parents must provide these documents along with the application form:

• Birth certificate of the child
• Proof of residential address
• Child’s recent passport size photographs
• Medical certificate

Global Indian International School Abu Dhabi fee is mentioned here.

• Additional fees

Fee Type	Fee
Registration Fee	AED 500
Re-Registration Fee	AED 500
ADEK Approved Uniform Fee (Including 5% VAT)	AED 766.50
Asset Exam Fee (Including 5% VAT)	AED 73.50
ADEK Approved Transportation Fee	AED 5000

A 10% sibling discount applies on the younger sibling’s tuition fee.

GIIS school Abu Dhabi offers two kinds of scholarships for both their students and non-GIIS students. The two types of scholarships available are:

ZAYED – GANDHI MERIT-CUM-MEANS SCHOLARSHIP

This scholarship is to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi (father of the nation – India), and 100th birth anniversary of H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan (father of the nation – UAE).

This scholarship is for students from Grade 5 onwards with financial difficulties that may be interfering with their family’s ability to provide quality education. Interested students can apply by filling up the forms available at the school admissions office. To apply for this scholarship, students must meet the following criteria:

• Be a UAE resident with valid residency documents including Emirates ID
• Come from a moderate income family
• Provide academic record (attested mark list of the previous annual exam)
• Provide full family income documents (Ministry of labour approved job contract copies)

Students are selected based on their family income record supported by the academic records. The scholarship has a validity of one year after which it will be reviewed in subsequent years. It is renewed if the student meets the requirements.

GLOBAL CITIZEN SCHOLARSHIP

This scholarship is awarded purely on academic merit. Grade 11 students can get this scholarship for their best performance. This includes the top three scorers in the CBSE exam at the UAE level in the Grade 10 exam concluded in March of the same year.

The school has a cafeteria with healthy variety of snacks for students. Students also bring their own packed lunches from home.

GIIS has a fleet of buses for students. All buses adhere to the rules of the DoT and ADEK ensuring students are safe during their journey. Parents can download an app to see the bus routes and when their child got on and off the bus.

The cost of transportation is AED 5000 per annum.

GIIS offers camps during summer and winter holidays for their students. The most recent camp offered in winter was based on cosmic adventure for students from Grades 2 to Grade 9. This was a 6-day camp and parents had to register and pay additional fees. The 3-week summer camp at GIIS works on overall personality development, along with art and crafts and multi-sport activities such as badminton, swimming, dance, karate and yoga.

GIIS has optimum facilities to promote students to explore their athletic skills. The facilities include a synthetic track for athletics, table tennis, a tennis court, a soccer ground, a badminton court, a cricket ground, swimming pool, yoga centre and a dance room.

At GIIS, the focus is on delivering a skill-based education, hence the school has a well-balanced system of extra-curricular and co-curricular activities. A wide range of sports activities is included along with dance, music and art. Here is the list of extracurricular activities:

GIIS has a house system that develops a sense of responsibility and healthy competition. The four houses are named after flowers:

• Chrysanthemum
• Hibiscus
• Orchid
• Sunflower

The school holds regular field trips for students of all grades in each academic year. The trips are part of the learning at the same time giving students a fun and memorable experience. A few of the field trips in the recent past include visits to museums and amusement parks like Louvre, Funworks at Yas mall and Warner Brothers.

There are no provisions for an after school care other than the after school activities that occur twice in a week. These include some of the ECA options mentioned above and other learning support initiatives for students who require it.

The school campus has a fully equipped clinic managed by a full-time nurse. The nurse is in charge of providing first aid in case of any injuries and administering medicines as approved by parents. Parents have to provide the school with all the medical information about their child at the time of admissions. This is then kept as a record at the clinic and helps the staff to address any emergencies at the school.

GIIS shares open communication with parents as this is an essential step in student’s progress. There are a number of ways to involve parents in students’ daily life. The school hosts a number of events and special days, especially for primary school. Through these events, parents participate in school activities such as story-telling sessions, class projects, drama lessons etc. Additional oriental sessions are held at the school for parents to be informed about the teaching and curriculum.

Parents have access to myGIIS portal – a one-stop solution for all information regarding child as well information on school-related activities as well administrative activities such as invoice, transport etc. Weekly class updates are also shared via parents email.

The school has also a forum for parents called GIIS Parent Ambassadors and Friends of GIIS who work with the school to bring a positive image to the community.

The school also uses their school website and social media to communicate with parents and advertise the achievements of the school. Parents are also part of WhatsApp groups and can share suggestions on this platform.

• Telephone: +971-2-507-9555 |+971-56-768-7040
• WhatsApp: +971-56-768-7040
• Global Indian International School Abu Dhabi Website
• Global Indian International School Abu Dhabi Facebook
• Global Indian International School Abu Dhabi Instagram
• Global Indian International School Abu Dhabi Twitter

Note that the cover image belongs to Global Indian International School Abu Dhabi.

What are the timings of the school?

The school is operational from 8 am to 3 pm.

How many grades/years are there in the school?

KG to Grade 12.

Does the school follow a co-education model?

Yes, Global Indian International School has a co-education model.

How many students are currently studying in the school? How many nationalities are represented?

The school has 2,201 students and most of them are Indian.  

Please describe the academic calendar of the school.

The school year starts in April and ends in March.

Please mention the range of the tuition fee charged by the school.

AED 10,600 - AED 12,550.

How does the school communicate with parents?

For smooth communication with parents, Global Indian International School has an open-door policy. It has an electronic portal “myGIIS” where parents can access all the information regarding their child’s attendance, academic record, fee and extracurricular activities programme. Global Indian International School also updates its social media pages to keep parents informed.

Does the school have a cafeteria or a canteen on campus?

Yes, the school has a cafeteria that provides healthy snacks to students.

Does the school arrange field trips?

Yes, GIIS takes students on field trips.

Does the school offer scholarship programmes to needy and deserving students?

Yes, the school has a merit-based scholarship for students.  

How many teachers are currently teaching in the school?

Global Indian International School, Abu Dhabi has 93 teachers and 18 teaching assistants. Most of the teachers are from India.