The Indian School Salalah is an Indian-run, self-financing, co-educational institution, primarily established to meet the academic needs of children of Indian

expatriates An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

working in the Sultanate of

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

in the Persian Gulf. The school also admits children of other nationalities. The school is located in the Dahariz area, of

Salalah Salalah () is the capital and largest city of the southern Omani Governorates of Oman, governorate of Dhofar Governorate, Dhofar. It has a population close to 331,949. Salalah is the third-largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest ...

town, in the southern

governorate A governorate or governate is an administrative division headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is typically used to calque divisions ...

Dhofar The Dhofar Governorate () is the largest of the 11 governorates in the Sultanate of Oman in terms of area. It lies in southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen's Al Mahrah Governorate and the southern border with Saudi Arabia's Easter ...

Affiliation, curriculum and competitive examinations

The school is affiliated to the

Central Board of Secondary Education The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a national-level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by the Government of India. Established in 1929 by a resolution of the government, the Board ...

(CBSE),

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It follows textbooks prescribed by the

NCERT National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) () is an autonomous organisation of Ministry of Education, the Government of India. Established in 1961, it is a literary, scientific and charitable Society under the Societies Re ...

, New Delhi. The school is structured into Kindergarten (LKG & UKG), Lower Primary (Grade 1 & 2), Primary (Grade 3 & 4), Middle School (Grade 5–8) and High School (Grade 9–12).

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

is the primary medium of education, and students are required to learn

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

as a second language from class 1 to 4.

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, or

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

can substitute for Hindi from grades 5-10. A third language

is a requirement in classes 5 to 8. The school conducts All-India public exams regulated by the CBSE for classes 10 & 12. The institution also holds the Maths olympiad conducted by the Indian National Mathematics Olympiad every February. All top scorers are awarded certificates. Olympiads for Maths, Science and Computer Science are conducted by the New South Wales University,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

for classes 9th & 12th. ISS holds the ASSET examination every year. This assessment is conducted by Educational Initiatives, India. Students of ISS also write the NGSE examination conducted by National Genius Search Foundation (NGSF), India and the

NTSC NTSC (from National Television System Committee) is the first American standard for analog television, published and adopted in 1941. In 1961, it was assigned the designation System M. It is also known as EIA standard 170. In 1953, a second ...

Competitive Assessment. Students of class 5 to 10 also appear for the Shastra Prathibha contest conducted by Science India Forum Muscat (SIF Muscat) in association with Vijnana Bharathi. ISS has taken part in national contests including Jhankaar Spectrum hosted by ISM, Times of Oman Quiz, Science Fiesta conducted by SIF Muscat, CBSE Oman Cluster Athletic Meet conducted by the Indian schools of Oman in association with CBSE board and Indian Embassy in Oman, Sports Fiesta, Ambassador's Ambedkar Essay Contest, SAI Essay and Poster Contest, Ambassador's Polemic Debate Challenge and National Quiz Pot.

History

The 1970s and the 1980s witnessed rapid industrial growth in Oman as a result of the oil boom. This required extra employment and the need was met mainly by Indian workers on work permit visas. This community could not bring their children with them from India as there were no Indian academic facilities available then. The Indians in Salalah organised under an Indian club and submitted a petition to the Sultan of Oman,

Qaboos bin Said al Said Qaboos bin Said Al Said (, ; 18 November 1940 – 10 January 2020) was Sultan of Oman from 23 July 1970 until his death in 2020. A fifteenth-generation descendant of the founder of the Al Bu Said dynasty, he was the longest-serving leader in ...

. He granted permission to construct a small building adjacent to the Indian Club at Haffa area in 1981. The school started with classes only until class 4 but increased it by one every year. In 1984, the school, being close to the Sultan's Al Hosn Palace was asked to relocate to Dahariz, a new area being developed for educational institutions. The school relocated to its new campus in September 1985. The school was brought under the purview of the Ministry of private education, Oman in 1988. The ministry asked the Indian Embassy Oman to disband the old Indian Club sub committee that was managing the school until then and form an independent one consisting of prominent Indian expatriates in Salalah. The school conducted its first class 10th CBSE public exam in 1988 and the class 12th public exam in 1994. It celebrated its

Silver jubilee Silver Jubilee marks a 25th anniversary. The anniversary celebrations can be of a wedding anniversary, the 25th year of a monarch's reign or anything that has completed or is entering a 25-year mark. Royal Silver Jubilees since 1750 Note: This ...

in February 2006. It has also received the NABET accreditation in 2022, being one of the few schools in Oman to receive it.

Facilities

The present campus at Dahariz has 15,297 sq m of area with 6,735 sq m built up. The school maintains a turfed playground (the largest lawn amongst all Gulf Schools) and a kindergarten playpen. The main building is in the form of a rectangle with an open air quadrangle in the centre, that functions as a badminton court. All rooms are air conditioned to bear the extreme summer heat. The building also houses an indoor auditorium, five broadband connected computer labs, four science labs (chemistry lab, Biology lab, Physics lab and Junior science lab), a maths lab, staff rooms, two Music rooms, two computerised general libraries, a canteen for teachers, a primary library,

Smart Board Smart Technologies (styled as SMART Technologies) is a Canadian company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and wholly owned by Foxconn. Founded in 1987, SMART is best known as the developer of interactive whiteboards branded as the "Smar ...

classes with Kyan multimedia, a first-aid room and an audio-visual room with multimedia facilities. A new block accommodates classes LKG to grade 2. The school has facilities for teaching non-scholastic subjects like arts, craft, music (vocal and instrumental), computer, CCA, environment and physical education. The school has about 150 classrooms to accommodate 4,000 students, with 175 plus teaching and more than 25 non-teaching staff. The school also provides a counsellor for the students. The new block was added to the existing building in August 2010.

Activities

Houses

The school follows a "house" grouping system for conducting co-curricular activities. Each student is assigned to a house at the beginning of his/her first academic year and represents it when participating in any individual or team competition till he/she leaves the school. Victories award points to one's house. All points are added up at the end of the year and the top two houses are awarded trophies on annual day. Blue, green, red and yellow are the four house colours used respectively represent the Sapphire, Emerald, Coral and Amber respectively; are seen by coloured stripes on the uniform neck-ties of boys or on the mass drill uniforms. Teachers are appointed as house masters and mistresses to govern the houses. The Office Bearers for every house are elected by the students and administer their oath at the Investiture Ceremony every year.

Interhouse co-curricular activities

Inter-house competitions are held throughout the academic year, consisting of :- * On-stage Cultural events—

Debates Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...

(Turncoat and Parliamentary),

Elocution Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compel ...

( English and Hindi),

Extempore ''Ex tempore'' (Latin for "out of the moment“) is a law latin legal term that means 'at the time'. A judge who hands down a decision in a case soon or straight after hearing it is delivering a decision ''ex tempore''. Another way a judge may de ...

( English), Poetry Recitation (English), Singing ( Group, Western Vocal, Indian Light Vocal, Indian Classical Vocal), Instrumental Music, Dumb-charade, Drama (Skits),

Spelling Bee A spelling bee is a competition in which contestants are asked to spell a broad selection of words, usually with a varying degree of difficulty. To compete, contestants must memorize the spellings of words as written in dictionaries, and recite ...

, Indian Folk Dance Multimedia Presentation, and Quizzes * Off-stage Cultural events- Art (Drawing, Painting), Calligraphy (Arabic), Origami, Craft, Creative Writing, Digital Painting, *Athletics— Sprints (50m, 80m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 1500m etc.), Jumps (Long Jump, High Jump, Triple Jump) Throws (Shot put, Javelin-throw, Discus-throw), Relays *March Pasts *Team Sports— Football (Soccer), Cricket, Baseball, Throwball, Basketball, Kho-Kho, Handball *Indoor Sports- Badminton and Chess

Clubs

*Eco-Club *Astronomy Club *Maths Club *Birdwatching Club *Photography Club *Quiz Club *IT Club *Science Club *Gavel Club *Tourism Club *Reading Club

Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme

The school takes part in the

Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, which has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and ...

also known as International Award For Young People (IAYP) for students from class 9 onwards. This is a scheme now spread throughout the Commonwealth and followed in India and Indian-based schools as the 'International Award For Young People'.

Scouts and Guides

The school also conducts the

Scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

and Guides program in association with

The Bharat Scouts and Guides The Bharat Scouts and Guides (BSG) is the national Scouting and Girl Guides, Guiding association of India. The national headquarters of BSG is recognised by the Government of India. Scouting was founded in India in 1909 as an overseas branch of ...

from classes 5th to 8th. This program is an extra- curricular education consisting of outdoor physical activities like camping, hiking, knot tying, excursions and social services. The Scouts uniform is a deep grey shirt, navy blue pants with Scouts hat, neck kerchief and whistle while the Guides have a deep blue kurta and salvar, with neck kerchief and a campaign hat. Children from class 3 and 4 are enrolled as Cubs/ Bulbuls as a training before they enter the real senior Scouts and Guides program.

Celebrations and holidays

The teachers are given a day off on Teacher's day held on 5 September, the class 11 and 12 students are allowed to impersonate members of the faculty and teach a few classes, and conduct a grand assembly. The school celebrates all Indian holidays with cultural festivals that are well-attended by the Salalah populace. Most of the religious and cultural festivals of India are also celebrated. The school remains closed on Omani National Holidays. The Annual Sports Meet is held usually in November and the School Annual Day in January. The Annual Day is celebrated on a grand scale with skits, dances, choirs etc. Students are then conferred with prizes and certificates for outstanding achievements in academics and co-curricular activities for that academic year. The school used to have regular exhibitions until 2006 which was restarted again with a large-scale exhibition in 2014, followed by one in 2024. The school also conducts Carnivals, the last one took place in 2022.

International achievements

* Project Green Oman, a project launched to promote Eco-friendliness in

by two students of Indian School Salalah, won the World Environment Day Global School Contest 2012 conducted by the

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also known as Rio 2012, Rio+20 (), or Earth Summit 2012 was the third international conference on sustainable development aimed at reconciling the economic and environmental goals ...

. On June 5, 2014, International

Energy Globe Award Energy () is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat and light. Energy is a conserved quantity—the law of conservation of energy sta ...

(dubbed as Nature's Nobel Prize) declared Hridith Sudev, one of the founders of Project GreenOman as their 2014 Energy Globe Laureate for his 'consistent Environmental stewardship'., He was also awarded the International Young EcoHero Award in 2017. * Two of Indian School Salalah students, along with Social Science Department HOD were selected to attend Indian Republic Day Parade 2015 in New Delhi, India as part of Asianet News Proud to Be Indian (PTBI) in January 2015. Other schools from Oman which were selected for student representation in PTBI were Indian School Darsait, Indian School Jalan and Indian School Ibra.

Notable alumni

Sneha Ullal Sneha Ullal (born 18 December 1987) is an Indian actress who has appeared in Telugu and Hindi films. She is known for her roles in the Telugu films '' Ullasamga Utsahamga'', '' Simha'' and the Hindi film '' Lucky: No Time for Love''. Early l ...

- Bollywood actress

References

External links

*
Location of the school on the map
*
School picture
{{coord, 17.033452, 54.160075, type:edu_globe:earth_region:OM, display=title Buildings and structures in Salalah Indian international schools in Oman Educational institutions established in 1981 1981 establishments in Oman