Indian ambassador inaugurates new Indian community school in Kuwait
HE Sibi George commends perseverance of teachers and zeal of their students
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 19: On the occasion of inaugurating the Indian School of Excellence, the Indian Ambassador to Kuwait HE Sibi George said he was impressed at how well “our schools and teachers have adapted and taken to new technology to make sure that the students do not miss out on learning and education for an entire year”. “I commend the perseverance of all the teachers and the zeal of their students to keep going, despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
Addressing the Chairman of the Indian community schools in Kuwait, other office bearers, principals of Indian Community schools in Kuwait, teachers, non-teaching staff, distinguished guests, media representatives and the students and their parents he said 2020 has been a difficult year for all. The pandemic which began as a health challenge soon became an economic disruption, a geopolitical shock and a global challenge. It continues to throw up new challenges to every country, every day and hoped 2021 would be different and “we will be able to overcome the crisis in coming weeks and months”.
“The opening of this new school today is a very happy moment. It is indeed a re-confirmation of our confidence in the gradual return to normalcy of life. It is a signal to all, particularly to our community here, that our life is returning to normal and 2021 is going to be a year of recovery. I am confident that this would also help recover the morale of our Diaspora, particularly young students, teachers and parents, in these difficult times.
“I am particularly happy that we witness this inauguration in the year when we would celebrate the 60th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Kuwait. I see this as one of the shining symbols of the excellent relations that several generations have built between our two countries. A relationship that we will endeavor to strengthen further each day and I wish to see more such educational institutions come up in Kuwait including higher education institutions,” the ambassador said.
He disclosed, “India, as most of us are aware, has one of the largest networks of higher education institutions in the world. In 2020-21, there were 9,700 total AICTE approved institutes. Of the total, there were 4,100 undergraduate, 4,951 postgraduate and 4,514 diploma courses in AICTE approved institutes. India has become the second largest market for E-learning after the US. The sector is expected to reach US$ 1.96 billion by 2021 with around 9.5 million users. However, there is still a lot of potential for further development in the education system.
“We are opening new IITs and IIMs all across the country to provide quality education to our new generation. In 2030, it is estimated that India’s higher education will emerge as the single largest provider of global talent with one in four graduates in the world being a product of the Indian higher education system. India will be among the top five countries in the world in terms of research output with an annual R&D spend of US$140 billion having more than 20 universities among the global top 200 universities. All these point to the huge opportunity that exists in developing partnership between India and countries like Kuwait in higher education. Let’s explore the possibilities.”
“I am confident,” the ambassador said, “that the new school that we open today will soon emerge as one of the most sought after centers of excellence in Kuwait. I wish that as its name suggests it may emerge as an ‘Indian School of Excellence’ in Kuwait to build and maintain the highest standards of education as envisaged in the new education policy, nurturing world class global citizens while staying connected to their Indian roots.”
The ambassador took this opportunity to express his sincere thanks to HH the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmed Al Sabah and HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and the leadership of the State of Kuwait for the effective handling of this pandemic and standing out as a role model in handling the coronavirus crisis.
India too is a success story when it comes to handling of COVID-19 crisis. It being a country of 1.3 billion people, onesixth of the total population, the number of cases always appears big. But the fact is that India’s recovery rate is one of the highest in the world, the recovery rate today is over 96.5%, active cases are just 2% and death rate is as low as 1.4%, one of the lowest in the world. India has undertaken over 180 million tests till date, on an average a million tests each day.