The International Indian School, Jeddah, known as Embassy of India School till 1996, is a secondary school for boys and girls in Jeddah

Jeddah

Jeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...

, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

It was founded in 1969.
The school slogan is "Knowledge is Light". The school is colloquially abbreviated to "IISJ". The school has been reputed to be the second largest school in Asia.

History

It started as a small school in Jeddah. It was encouraged by expatriates and prominent people of the Indian community (only Indians) residing in Jeddah. At one time, private Indian schools were not allowed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As a result, the children of Indian expatriates in Saudi Arabia had no option but to join this school or join Saudi schools in which the medium of teaching was Arabic. Rafiuddin S. Fazulbhoy founded the school in 1969. The then-Prime Minister

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

 Mrs. Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...

 laid the foundation of then "Embassy of India School, Jeddah". Gradually, every India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n in Jeddah started to learn in this school and they now have nearly 15000 students. The longest serving Principal of the School was Dr. Naimullah Khan during whose time the Boys' Section shifted to the now existing building. Dr. Khan served for almost 8 years and during his tenure, countless developments took place in this school.
On 16 March 2011, the school inaugurated an additional building hired to accommodate the increasing number of students.
The school has plans to further acquire 50,000sqmts of land for the construction of new premises to cater the increasing number of admissions.

Sections and Blocks

The policy of the Ministry of Education of the Saudi Government does not favor co-education. As a result, separate shift system was followed in the same building for boys and girls until the completion of construction of a new Boys' Section building in 1994. Now, there exist separate the Boys' Section and the Girls' Section, which are actually few kilometers apart.
For academic ease, the classes in each section are divided into the following Block system. Each section has its own blocks. The Kindergarten, however, is common to both sections.

• I-II Block, i.e., classes 1st and 2nd;
• III-V Block, i.e., classes 3rd, 4th and 5th;
• VI-VIII Block, i.e., classes 6th, 7th and 8th;
• IX-XII Block, i.e., classes 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th.

The classes of Boys' Section are suffixed 'B' while those of Girls' Section are suffixed 'A', followed by a number. This number depends on the total students in that batch. For example, VIIIB8 denotes the eighth classroom of 8th standard in the Boys' Section.

Organization and Core Committee

The Organization Board is headed by the Patron, H.E. Mr Talmiz Ahmed, Indian Ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

 to KSA.
The Core Committee. constitutes the following:

• Principal: Mr. Syed Masood Ahmed;
• Vice Principal (Boys' Section): Dr. Najeeb Qais Ammar;
• Vice Principal (Girls' Section): Mrs. Farhadunnisa;
• Controller of Examination: Mr. Sheikh Mohd. Ayyub;
• Head Master IX-XII Block(Boys): Mr. Noufal Palakkoth;
• Head Mistress IX-XII Block(Girls): Mrs.Rita B. Sharma;
• Head Master VI-VII Block(Boys): Mr. Rasheed Farooqui;
• Head Mistress VI-VII Block(Girls): Mrs. Maria S. Ramaswamy;
• Head Mistress III-V Block(Boys): Mrs. Naheed Fatima;
• Head Mistress III-V Block(Girls): Mrs.Ghazala *Head Mistress I-II Block(Boys): Mrs. Raffat Sayeed;
• Head Mistress I-II Block(Girls): Mrs. Siddiqua Nusrath;
• Head Mistress KG Block: Mrs. Ayesha Rafai;
• Head Master Open School: Mr. C.P. Joy.

Facilities

Facilities at IISJ are among the best compared to other private schools present in Jeddah and the school is not endeavouring to improve the same by modernization

Modernization

In the social sciences, modernization or modernisation refers to a model of an evolutionary transition from a 'pre-modern' or 'traditional' to a 'modern' society. The teleology of modernization is described in social evolutionism theories, existing as a template that has been generally followed by...

 on a consistent basis. But, the computer labs for Senior Secondary students have recently been upgraded with 40 latest computers . There is exclusive lab for improving Communications Skills through the Phonetic and English Language Lab.

Laboratories

The departments of Physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

, Chemistry

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

, Biology

Biology

Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

, Mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, Computer Science

Computer science

Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...

/Informatics and Home Science are provided with fully equipped independent laboratories to keep the students in pace with the latest updates in respective fields.

Library

IISJ has full-fledged well-endowed library with spacious reference and reading area both in the Boys’ and Girls’ Sections to benefit students in their pursuit of knowledge. The Library subscribes to leading Indian and foreign journals in various fields through which the students understand the world and the competition that is taking place around for a better development. These books also help to enhance the knowledge of such students to develop their skill paving a path for them to a bright future.

Career Guidance Cell

To provide latest information on courses offered in various institutions of higher learning in India and in other countries. It aids students in exploring new opportunities and channelling their interests according to their aptitude. The cell conducts workshops on personality development and communication skills, psychological tests, group discussions etc. to enable students to assess their strengths and work on their weaknesses. Training programmes and guest lectures are also organized to further enhance their personality.

Sports

Students can play indoor games such as table tennis

Table tennis

Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...

, badminton

Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...

, chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 and carrom

Carrom

Carrom is a family of tabletop games with gameplay that lies somewhere between billiards and table shuffleboard. Carrom is known by many names around the world, including carrum, couronne, carum, karam, karom, karum, fatta and finger billiards...

 but are only allowed in sports meet etc. Amongst outdoor games the school provides facilities for basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

, cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

, and football. Students play all outdoor games on the road where the buses are parked. Sports Meet is organised every year. The students participate in various games/sports regularly as well as in interschool cluster meet.

Co-Curricular Activities

The school lays stress not only on the knowledge of a subject that a student imbibes but also on the complete development of the personality. For achieving this, various co-curricular activities are organized under the guidance of faculty members. Their performance is evaluated and certificates are awarded for good performance.

Medical Facilities

There are separate medical rooms in both sections of the school equipped with first aid facilities and qualified nurses who attend to the medical needs of students.

Open School

For those who are residing far away from Jeddah, the Open School facility offers formal education in an informal way. Staff from our school is sent to different centers to conduct examinations.

Canteen

Canteen facility provides eatables and juices respective of healthy nutrients to the students at exorbitant prices with emphasis on packaged food.

Transport

The school provides transport facility to students and staff on routes of Jeddah with more than 90 maintained buses and for Makkah there are more than 10 new buses. Punctual routine has been followed throughout the transportation department for arriving at the school premises in time.

Students Safety Insurance

Each and every student of the school is covered 24 hours for accidental injuries under Safety Insurance/Group Personal Accident Insurance Policy.

Staff Medical Insurance

The school provides medical insurance coverage to its staff through a National insurance company.

Auditorium

The school currently holds one of the largest auditoriums in the city which has a capacity of at least 2000 spectators for cultural shows, and many other entertainment events which are sometimes organized after school timings with a private registration and permission for the programmes. Having all the available facilities of sound, lighting and other show event systems installed also with a wide centralized Air conditioners, the usual running program coordinator (privately organized events) finds it easy to run the show without any help or contract from private agencies for the above necessities.

Courses Offered

The school offers all subjects for primary and secondary levels to prepare the students for AISS (X) CBSE examinations. In senior secondary Humanities, Commerce and Science are offered as course streams. The optional subjects include Mathematics, Computer Science, Informatics, Home Science, Physical Education, Biology and oriental languages.

Affiliation

The school is affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education

Central Board of Secondary Education

The Central Board of Secondary Education is a Board of Education for public and private schools, under the Union Government of India.-History:...

, New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

. under the Affiliation Number 5730001.