Nadeem Tarin, chairman of Delhi Public School (DPS), Riyadh and Dunes International School (DIS), Dammam, envisions excellence for their students with best-equipped schools in the Middle East offering world-class facilities.

“With that objective in mind, we seek to achieve excellence in academics and in co-curricular activities,” said Tarin in an interview.

He added: “Our vision extends beyond the narrow walls of the classrooms and textbooks as it intends to give the students in the Kingdom a truly global perspective by providing international level schooling facilities.”

Greeting the Indian community on its 65th Republic Day, he pointed out that DPS aims to provide quality education to its students. Our primary aim is to develop in the student qualities of integrity, honesty, trust, tolerance and compassion, to promote a spirit of inquiry, to foster a scientific temper within the bonds of humanism, to help the student to become a meaningful part of his environment and to see that courage and industry have their due reward.

“The pursuit of excellence encouraged at DPS rests on the positive belief that every man has it in him to produce work, the quality of which can be described as first class,” he observed.

“Toward this end, the school endeavors to provide a large and dedicated teaching staff with a wide range of skills and interest, a varied and wide choice of activities, including academic, aesthetic and athletic — an environment enriched with the excitement of discovery, challenge and competitiveness and discipline based on the belief that responsibility comes before freedom,” he said.

Tarin maintained that the DPS and DIS profess their students not only to describe the world around them, but also to prescribe the best ways to live and compete at the global level.

He added that students and teachers of the DPS Riyadh were also benefited by the visits of cricket legends — Mohammad Azharuddin and Kapil Dev - in the recent past.

“This means that we serve others willingly, graciously and selflessly. We should not expect anything in return for our service because there is greater pleasure in giving than in receiving. By serving others, we serve the purpose of the Almighty,” Tarin said.

Speaking on the occasion of India’s Republic Day, he congratulated students, teachers and parents, who have contributed to make this school an ideal institution. He also expressed his admiration for teachers and students, while congratulating the parents for 100 percent result given by the school in secondary school examination.

Meraj M. Khan, principal of DPS also greeted the students on the Republic Day.

Speaking about the school, he said, “To me the very purpose of quality education is character building. Children are malleable material who can be shaped into persons of excellence by their teachers.”

He added: “As responsible teachers, we have to be exemplary to our students if we want them to be assets to the society and the nation. “I feel it is important for every child to enjoy a sense of achievement. Every child should be encouraged to perform to the fullest ability and due importance should be given to learning in areas beyond academics,” he said.

An institution should be a living place that shapes children’s lives and builds their character, he added.

Therefore, to assess the school’s performance only by its high academic scores is not sufficient, it is equally important for a school to be a place for happy children with a love for learning and sound value system, he observed.

To achieve these objectives, we need to work jointly with the parents of our pupils to create a climate for open exchange of views and experiences, supporting each other’s quest for quality on all fronts, he added.

Khursheed Shah, director, finance and administration, greeted the Indian community on the occasion of the 65th Republic Day.

He said that the DPS and DIS had made their name in order to provide better education to Indian and foreign students in the Kingdom with the DPS providing world-class facilities.

To this end, he recalled the visit of then Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, now the country’s president, who visited Riyadh and laid the foundation of DPS school building.

He lauded the efforts of Darrusalam International School Chairman Ibrahim Al-Qauid for bringing one of the best academic institutions of India to Saudi soil.