According to its principal Syed Masood Ahmed, thousands of students have graduated from IISJ since it was established in 1969.
“Our graduates hold important positions in major companies in different parts of the world,” he told Arab News.
Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad inaugurated IISJ’s Alumni Association during the school’s annual award ceremony recently. The alumni inauguration comes at an auspicious occasion when IISJ achieved academic excellence scoring 100 percent pass in CBSE examinations. It provides a forum for all IISJ students to interact and inspire one another to achieve greater success.
C.P. Joy, director of Open School and coordinator of the Alumni, emphasized the significance of the association and said it would strengthen the school. “Our students have carved a niche for themselves and brought name and fame for their alma mater,” he said.
Mohammed Hyder, president of the Alumni, spoke about IISJ’s astonishing journey of progress. He thanked Dr. M.S. Karimuddin, member of the Higher Board, for taking the initiative to launch the Alumni.
The IISJ had a humble beginning. It started with five students at a makeshift building inside the Indian Embassy’s compound in Sharafiya. Salma, wife of the current Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari, was its first teacher. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi laid the foundation stone for its first building (now girls section) in Aziziya. The school currently has 505 teachers and 150 support staff.
“We are proud that IISJ graduates have got jobs at NASA, Google, Microsoft, Apple, John Hopkins Hospitals, to name a few,” the principal said.
In 1980, the school’s first batch of Grade X students (three girls and two boys) passed out. There were only 12 students in the first batch of Grade XII in 1983. Ahmed attributed IISJ’s success to the community’s support and cooperation.
He highlighted the school’s phenomenal growth and its important role in providing education to the children of Indian expatriate workers in the city. “There is huge demand for seats at our school from the community despite the presence of 12 private schools in the city,” he said and noted IISJ’s efforts to improve the quality of teaching through staff training programs.
“We have to pay high salary to get qualified teachers,” Ahmed said while defending the school’s recent decision to increase fees. “It was necessary to meet growing expenses and maintain quality of education. We give fee concessions to deserving students.”
The school has revised its salary scale for senior secondary teachers from SR2,400-SR3,400 to SR3,100-SR4,900.