Indian School Al Ghubra

Infobox_University
name = Indian School, Al-Ghubra
motto = Strive for the Best


established =1990
type =Private
principal =Mrs Papri Ghosh

endowment =
staff =
faculty =
chancellor =
undergrad =
postgrad =
doctoral =
city =Muscat
state =
country =Oman
campus =
mascot =The Flame
nickname =ISG, Ghalians
colors =Green & White
affiliations =
website =http://www.indianschool.com
logo =

The Indian School Al-Ghubra (ISG), established in September 1990, is located in the city of Muscat, Oman. The school was founded by an Indian born Omani businessman Dr. P. Muhammad Ali who is Managing Director of Galfar Engineering and Contracting, one of the largest construction companies in Oman. Mr. B.S. Bhatnagar was principal of the school since its inception in 1990 to Spring 2006. The present principal is Mrs. Papri Ghosh, who succeeded Mr. G. Thangadurai in 2008. The school is a participant in The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme. The school is also the first and only school in the country that is a member of the Round Square. The Indian School Al-Ghubra is renowned for the quality education offered to its students. In its formative years, a particularly talented group of teachers, specially handpicked by Mr Bhatnagar, played a very important role in taking the School to high levels of excellence in not only academics but also various extracurricular activities, cultural events and more.

Academics

ISG is a private, co-ed day school that is under the Central Board of Secondary Education of India and has been modelled on an Indian boarding school. The school offers complete educational services starting from Kindergarten through to 12th grade senior school and follows the CBSE syllabus, which is regarded world wide as one of the toughest syllabi in the world.

In the last two years, 11th and 12th, students can choose from two streams of specializations, Commerce and Science, and the subjects include accounting, business studies, physical education, mathematics, economics, engineering drawing, computer science, biology, physics and chemistry. The school also offers foreign languages such as French and Arabic. The school's alumni have attended various universities including Harvard University, Cornell University, Christian Brothers University, Dartmouth College, Columbia University, Yale University, Brown University, Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Management, University of Texas, Stanford University, Purdue University, Arizona State University, McGill University, University of North Carolina, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of California, Berkeley, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Duke University,University of Southern California, Missouri State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and others.

Student Council

The School Council members are elected democratically by the students of each class. The Student Council has two members from each class, a boy and a girl, starting from Grade 6. The office bearers of the Student Council are the Speaker, the Vice President and the President who are all elected from the final year students.

Prefectorial Body

The prefects are also elected by the students in a democratic way. Every year, the office bearers are the Headboy, Headgirl, Vice Headboy, Vice Headgirl, President of Student Council, Vice President of Student Council, Speaker of Student Council, President of the Round Square, Sports Captain(Girls) and Sports Captain(Boys). There is also a body of prefects, whose number vary around 16. The academic year 2007-08 had 17 prefects, in addition to the 10 office bearers.

Sports Facilities

The school has a grass fotball pitch. It also has a basketball court and cricket pitch. The school hall has two badminton courts and can also accommodate six table tennis tables. Students are free to use all these facilities during their Physical Ed classes or after school hours, in the evening.

The Houses

The students of the school are organized in 4 Houses, which compete against each other in intra-school tournaments, which include sporting, quizzing etc. The houses are named after significantly famous places in Oman like Muscat, Nizwa, Sohar, and Sur.

History

Originally 8 houses competed for the prestigious House of the Year award. However, the 4 of the 8 houses have ceased to exist. The houses in alphabetical order preceded by their respective colours are as follows:

*color box|#b66801 Ibri (ceased)
*color box|#186a35 Khasab (ceased)
*color box|#d04500 Muscat
*color box|#093170 Nizwa
*color box|#4b2985 Salalah (ceased)
*color box|#cfaf02 Sohar
*color box|#fde042 Sur
* Seeb (ceased)

The House Structure and Governance

A 'House' comprises of a quarter of the Senior Student population and a quarter of the Teaching Staff. 'Senior student' is the educational establishment collective term given for the students enrolled in the Sixth Standard (or Sixth Grade) upwards until the Twelfth Standard (or Twelfth Grade).

The house hierarchy is as follows (in descending order):

*Head House Master and Head House Mistress
*House Masters and House Mistresses
*Male House Captain and Female House Captain
*Team Captains for the respective teams
*House Members

House Masters snd House Mistresses

Each 'House' is governed by the respective Senior Head Housemaster and Head Housemistress, with the individual specialist tasks (such as Debates, Quizzes etc.) often delegated to the Vice Housemaster(s) and Vice Housemistress(es) mutually acknowledged to be the most experienced in the concerned field.

The House Captain

A House Captain, or the Student Head, is often democractically elected by the most senior students and subjective to discretionary approval by the respective Heads of the House. A House Captain is often seen as the person responsible for leading the House up the points table, thereby ensuring that the House procures a strong position and establishes itself as an Award Winner.

The House Team Captain

The role of Team Captain, again undergoes a similar democractic treatment with a few minor changes. The respective teams elect their Team Captain. For instance, the members of the Football Team elect their Football Team Captain. The House Captains and/or the House Masters/Mistresses may nominate a candidate but that is as far as it goes. The electorial process is based on mutual acknowledgment by the concerned House Team members. It must be remembered that unlike the House Captain, the powers associated with the role of the Team Captain is very limited and ends once the respective event ends. Neverthless, the Team Captain has complete freedom to conduct and lead his or her team in any manner he or she wishes, so long as it is in the spirit of healthy competition and in the interests of the House. The Team Captain (although under no obligation to do so) may or may not accept suggestions or tactical advice from the House Captain(s) and/or House Masters/Mistresses, and officially has the last say in developing the strategies and tactics that will be adopted by his or her respective team.

The House Members

The House Membership is strictly reserved for 'Senior Students' (students in Sixth Grade and above). All students are expected to take part in an event of their choice, although this is not mandatory. Nevertheless extending support to their houses in times of competition is greatly recognised and immensely appreciated by all the teams.

tudent Support

Every student within the House are assigned an Academic Tutor who will be responsible for the student's academic performance, extracurricular achievements and all other issues of concern that would generally benefit the student's welfare both on-campus and off-campus, thereby ensuring a great educational experience during their stay at school.

election Criteria

The selection criteria for the choice of the Heads of the Houses are rather unclear, although it is very likely based on senioririty. The selection criteria for the Junior Head Masters and Mistresses is almost always based on the individual's skills and experience within a particular field. For Example: Language Teachers within a particular House usually take on the roles of coaching the Language Debate House Team.

Department of Information Technology (DoIT)

ISG was one of the first schools to incorporate an independent IT department, called the Department of Information Technology. This allows the school to augment the students existing syllabus with computer education. The department has 164 workstations which are spread over 3 labs. The department is also responsible for maintaining the school's website.

School Song and Motto

The school song was written and composed by Mr. Denzel.A.V.Prince. The school's official motto is "Strive for the Best".

Quiz Teams

The school has produced teams that have won national and international quiz competitions. In 1998, the school won the Times of Oman Quiz and went on to win the All-Asia Bournvita Quiz Contest held in India. The school conducts general knowledge quizzes every month to raise the awareness of world affairs among students.

Hall of Principals

Mr. B S Bhatnagar (1990 - 2006)Mr. G. Thangadurai (2006 - 2008)Mrs. Papri Ghosh (2008 - present)

External links

* [http://www.indianschool.com The Indian School Al-Ghubra]