New Delhi: A global
chain of schools providing education with Indian values,
especially meant for the diaspora, has received funding from the
World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) to set up
more institutions in India and Southeast Asian countries.
The IFC will provide Singaporean $25 mn ($19.4 mn) to the Global
Indian International School(GIIS), run by the Global Schools
Foundation (GSF) that has 20 campuses in seven countries, for
setting up/acquiring new schools in South and Southeast Asian
countries, GIIS officials said here Monday.
A GIIS statement cited IFC director Vipul Prakash as saying that "GIIS'
ability to implement high standards of educational delivery helps
in driving innovation in the primary and secondary education
sector and fulfils the growing need for quality education in
emerging markets".
The investment is in line with IFC's strategy for education sector
in Asia, which includes supporting service providers, he added.
GSF co-founder Atul Temurnikar said that IFC's long-term loan will
"allow us to accelerate our expansion plan and reach more students
throughout the region".
GIIS plans to use a significant part of the funding in India where
two new schools are scheduled to come up in Bangalore and
Ahdmedabad, to complement its existing schools in Noida, Surat and
Indore, said its country chief (India) Rajeev Katyal.
"We plan to open two more schools in Ahmedabad and Bangalore. The
Bangalore facility will be ready by 2014 and the admissions will
start by September this year," Katyal told IANS.
He said unlike other premier institutions like the Delhi Public
School chain, which set up branches in other countries after
establishing itself in India, GIIS came to India after
establishing itself in various countries such as Singapore.
The GIIS aims at holistic development of its students with a mix
of Indian values and an international mindset, and encourages them
to interact with their counterparts in other schools to inculcate
an international outlook as India becomes a global player, he
said.
GIIS also offers upto 10 scholarships for Indian students to study
in their Queenstown campus in Singapore.
"Besides India, we are also looking to set up schools in the Gulf
countries," said Katyal.
The group offers Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and
Global Montessori Plus programme in its institutions.
The GSF's founders include late parliamentarian L.M. Singhvi,
former Supreme Court judge D.M. Dharmadhikari and former cricketer
Chandu Borde.
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