Husain, who was inspecting the Jeddah school, also attended the farewell accorded to Grade 12 students by their juniors. He lauded the school's academic and infrastructure standards.
“The DPS Jeddah figures on India's Ministry of External Affairs panel of schools for taking care of the educational needs of its diplomats' children here, which says everything about its standard and reputation,” Husain said.
He added: “DPS Society has a system of appointing Link Principals, who, on behalf of the society, monitor everything in satellite schools, making sure that the system and the standards of DPS are replicated in every school.
“Because of various reasons there was no Link Principal to monitor DPS Jeddah, and so I was asked to inspect it and submit a report to the society. During my maiden visit to DPS, Jeddah, I found it exemplary in all fields.”
Addressing the graduating students, Husain reminded the students that they are graduating from one of the best school system of India and wished them the best in all walks of life.
Husain is the principal of the DPS, Mathura Road, New Delhi — the first school set up by the DPS Society, which boasts of several prominent Indians among its alumni.
Speaking about the success story of the DPS Society, which runs 145 schools all over the globe, Husain said, “One of the major reasons for its success, even after its expansion to smaller cities, is the society's faith in its principals, who have full autonomy. They appoint the principal after much thought and deliberation and explain to him their vision. The rest is his responsibility. So, in the DPS' scheme of things, the principal is not only the face of the school, but is the soul of school’s education.”
Speaking about the challenges before the Indian education system, Husain said, “A fine balance needs to be struck between the traditional value-based ethos of the Indian education system and the demands of the current market-driven forces, for whom education remains a safe business for the next 50 years. Currently, venture capitalists are falling over one another to invest in school education. They just want someone who can set up and run a good chain of schools for them. But at the DPS Society the emphasis is on providing the best educational system.”
The society, under the leadership of Ashok Chandra, has brought about a sea change in the administration of the DPS schools, which has made for better functioning and an even higher status for the DPS brand.
