In the words of its co-founder and first president, the late Dr. L.M. Singhvi, “The vision of the Global Indian Foundation is such that its heart is Indian, its mind global and its soul always striving for excellence.” In the six years since it set up the first school in 2002 in Singapore, with a mere 60 students, the success of the Global Indian International School has been nothing short of startling. The numbers speak for themselves. In this short period, the school has grown to provide an outstanding education to over 4000 students in Singapore alone.
Its educational reach has extended all over Southeast Asia, and into places far flung from its first endeavour, such as Japan and New Zealand. If that pace of growth is anything to go by, the Global Indian International School is equipped to be a global education provider.
The main aim of the Global Indian Foundation has been to further the quality of education and increase the level of knowledge. This has been achieved by setting up schools in places where the Indian diaspora is large or growing at a fast pace. Although education is the main focus of the schools, they also play a pivotal role in serving the community around them. Many aspects of Indian culture, in the form of music, theatre, dance, languages and yoga are also imbibed in the students.
GIIS Queenstown campus focuses on High School and Junior College education and has excellent facilities for the Sciences, Biotechnology and Computer Studies. The GIIS East Coast campus sports facilities include an Olympic running track, two cricket grounds, basketball, tennis, badminton and volleyball courts.
GIIS Balestier campus was formally inaugurated by H.E. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, eminent scientist and ex-President of India in August 2008. This new campus provides Pre-Primary and Primary education to the Indian diaspora in North Singapore.
The growing number of international students including Korean, American and Australian students enrolled in the campuses in Singapore is a testament to the popularity of the Global Indian International School. GIIS schools now educate over 17,000 students from 30 nationalities in seven countries.
GIIS schools have seen tremendous growth, and in 2008, the local community in Kuala Lumpur were fortunate to have a second campus in Malaysia. The Global Indian International School in KL can be credited with another milestone. The enrollment for the students stands at 35% Malaysian citizens, close to the maximum quota allowed for international schools there.
The next international move was to Japan where GIIS won the approval of confidence from the Japanese government as well as the Japanese community to pave the way for the establishment of schools in Tokyo, Kofu and Yokohama.
The local communities in New Zealand and Thailand caught notice of this educational windfall and the GIIS educational model was replicated in these countries in 2007.
To leverage on the unique cultural milieu of diaspora communities and local residents, the Global International Foundation started Global International Cultural Centres at all its schools. The main goal of these centres is to teach courses in foreign languages, fine and performing arts, yoga, speech, drama and sports. These varied courses form an enriching intellectual glue that binds the communities together in addition to being a community hub for parents and students. Parents often enjoy meeting at these centres over a meal while their children are engaged in learning.
Global Indian Foundation gives back to the society, where it enjoys the fruits of hospitality. In Singapore, the Foundation works closely with the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA), in addition to cooperating with local community centres, orphanages and old aged homes. It has also instituted scholarships for meritorious students from India and GIIS schools.
This sense of collective responsibility and social awareness drove the foundation to manage the Eklavya tribal school, now called the ‘Mahatma Gandhi-Eklavya School’, located in the tribal belt of Tilakwada, near Baroda, Gujarat, India. The funding for the school is provided by the Gujarat government but the honour of managing such an innovative project has been given to the foundation.