Culture & Education | Wednesday 4 February, 2015 9:02 am |

The Swiss International Scientific School in Dubai (SISD) – Dubai’s first ever private boarding school to offer multi-lingual education in French, German, English and Arabic – is now taking admissions for new students for the approaching 2015-2016 school year. SISD is diversifying the education landscape and contributing to Dubai as an education hub, meanwhile reducing the demand-supply gap.

Students of SISD will enjoy a multi-lingual education through the full International Baccalaureate (IB) continuum program. Parents in the UAE are increasingly attracted to international schools due to the ‘international education passport’ that externally validated examinations bring. For students who aspire to go to western universities, it removes the obligation to do a foundation year. Running from Pre-Kindergarten through to Grade 12, SISD will offer students the full continuum IB programme: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), and the IB Diploma Programme (IB DP). Students will learn in three bilingual sections with English-French, and English-German or English with foreign languages on offer. In Grade 9, students will have the option to move into the Swiss Matura set and graduate with a bilingual Matura. Founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1968 for students in international schools, the IB program has gained global popularity for setting high standards, its broad subject base, and its emphasis on creative and critical thinking.

SISD Head of School and Swiss national Beat Sommer, said: “The SISD IB program will mirror Switzerland’s highly sophisticated and inclusive education system, placing a strong emphasis on developing a multi-lingual school community across all year levels. From Grade one onwards, students in the bilingual sets will be immersed in a progressive environment where they will eventually study 50 percent of their time in English and 50 percent of their time in either French or German. Students in these sets will be able to qualify for the IB Bilingual Diploma during their final years at the school.

Mr Sommer said multilingualism and bi-literacy would play a key role at SISD, advocating the positive impact of robust multi-cultural disciplines in fostering academic excellence, cultural diversity and human values that would position students to become life-long learners: “Our goal is to foster a flourishing community of global citizens that are inquisitive, active and compassionate learners, and who contribute to a more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. SISD is a place to build connections for life, celebrate achievements and most importantly, have fun.”

Once the school is at full capacity, the 67’845sqm campus located adjacent to Dubai Creek in Dubai Healthcare City’s new Phase 2, will cater to students from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12 and will boast 2,442 pupils (boys and girls), including a premium boarding house for 350 students. The campus will be based on sustainability standards as per the Swiss Minergie label, which is awarded to buildings constructed in line with energy-saving and ecological approaches, and will also include state-of-the-art sporting facilities and unique water access to Dubai creek.

For the school year 2015/16, SISD will accept students for Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten and Primary Grades 1 to 6. In line with the regulatory requirements, grades 7 to 12 will be added later, when the school’s specialised curriculum will also take a strong scientific focus to offer secondary students a valuable springboard should they choose to pursue academia in medicine or healthcare. The other option is the Swiss Matura programme, which offers a comprehensive general education, with students graduating with a diploma recognised both within Switzerland and internationally.

Mr Marwan Abedin, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Healthcare City: “Dubai Healthcare City forges strategic partnerships within its robust regulatory framework to attract leading, global institutions. The Swiss International Scientific School will be one of our first operational partners in our Phase 2 expansion, and its establishment reflects our mission to enable high quality education. We are excited about Phase 2, and look forward to reaching more milestones.”