India supports community initiatives for new schools in GCC

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The Indian government supports initiatives to start schools in Gulf countries teaching the Indian curriculum, the Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, told India’s Parliament.

However, “opening of new schools by the Indian community in the Gulf depends on requirements for the same and is subject to approval of local authorities in the countries concerned,” Muraleedharan told Jose K Mani, member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper House of Parliament, in answer to the member’s question, reported state news agency WAM.

“The government is always supportive of any such initiative taken by Indian community for providing quality education to non-resident Indian (NRI) children at affordable costs,” he said.

“At present there are a large number of Indian schools operating in Gulf countries which cater to the needs of Indian expatriate population based in the region.”

Within the GCC, the largest number of Indian schools – 106 – are in the UAE, according to data presented by the Minister to Parliament. This is followed by Saudi Arabia with 37 schools and Kuwait with 26.

There are a total of 217 Indian schools in GCC countries, Muraleedharan said.

Meanwhile, in other news, recent developments in India are a testament to the country’s growing global economic prominence – be it a reference to US-India economic deals in chip assembly, critical minerals and other areas, Tesla’s strong indications to potentially invest in India, or the newly released United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report indicating that India managed to attract the third highest announced greenfi eld investments globally in 2022.

Read: India at 77: A rising economic force

The country’s economy grew by 9.1 per cent in 2021-22 and 7.2 per cent in 2022-23 in real GDP terms, positioning itself within the fastest-growing economies globally.

Looking at the present conditions, the country is forecast to grow at anywhere between 6-6.5 per cent for 2023-24, giving the country a ‘bright spot’ economy status at a time when China, for example, is exhibiting uneven recovery, Germany enters a recession and the US potentially narrowly avoids one.

Also read: UAE-India partnership: Leading the regionalisation of trade