GEMS Our Own Indian SchoolIndian Curriculum, Subjects & Qualifications

GEMS Our Own Indian School delivers the Indian CBSE curriculum from KG1 through Grade 12, making it one of only a small number of schools in Dubai to offer the full CBSE pathway to board examination level. External CBSE board examinations are sat at Grade 10 and Grade 12, with senior students choosing between Science and Commerce streams in Grades 11 and 12. Instruction is conducted entirely in English, with Arabic and Hindi offered as additional languages. Among Indian curriculum schools in Dubai, GEMS OIS sits at the upper end of the quality spectrum: the city index shows 34 Indian curriculum schools in Dubai, of which only 10 hold a Very Good KHDA rating — placing OIS in a select group.

The school's most recent KHDA inspection, conducted in October 2023, awarded an overall rating of Very Good — a sustained improvement from the Good ratings held between 2015 and 2020. Inspectors rated curriculum design and implementation as Outstanding across all phases, a rare distinction that reflects the school's deliberate layering of enrichment onto the CBSE framework. Science attainment is Outstanding in both Primary and Secondary, and mathematics progress is Outstanding in KG and Secondary. English progress in Middle and Secondary was also rated Outstanding, with inspectors noting that students achieve excellent results in external benchmark tests and demonstrate high verbal reasoning abilities confirmed by national and international assessments.

A standout academic achievement is the school's performance in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2021, where results improved markedly compared to 2016, exceeded the school's own target, and scored above the OECD global average. This is a significant benchmark for an Indian curriculum school and reflects a sustained, school-wide commitment to literacy development. The Callido literacy and critical thinking programme in Middle School and the Alasafeer Arabic curriculum enhancement are among the structured interventions underpinning this performance.

The academic programme is meaningfully enriched beyond the standard CBSE syllabus. The CREYA STEAM curriculum, delivered across Primary and Middle through two dedicated STEAM labs, integrates design thinking and inquiry-based learning into core subjects. The Microsoft Imagine Academy provides technology pathways from Grade 1, supported by a dedicated Chief Innovation and Digital Officer role — an unusual appointment for a school at this fee level. Diagnostic rigour is embedded through CAT4 cognitive ability assessments at Grades 3, 6, and 8, and ASSET benchmarking assessments across Grades 3 to 9, enabling teachers to track individual progress against Asian school norms.

Inclusion provision is a genuine institutional strength. The dedicated CONNEXION Department supports 349 students of determination — a substantial cohort — through Individualised Education Plans, behavioural support plans, and external therapy partnerships. The school is a registered ASDAN Centre, offering an accredited alternative qualification pathway for students of determination, a provision uncommon among Indian curriculum schools in Dubai. Gifted and talented students also receive structured support, and inspectors rated inclusion Very Good overall.

Areas flagged for improvement are specific and actionable. Inspectors noted that Arabic teaching needs to become more student-centred and better differentiated by years of language study — attainment in Arabic as an Additional Language remains only Acceptable in Middle and Secondary. In Primary and Middle, the use of assessment data to drive lesson planning and curriculum adaptation is inconsistent; inspectors observed that benchmark data is thoroughly analysed centrally but does not always translate into differentiated classroom practice. Primary teachers, in particular, were noted to sometimes set the same task at the same pace for all students, limiting responsiveness to individual learning needs. These are recurring themes in Indian curriculum schools across Dubai and represent the clearest gap between OIS's strong curriculum design and its classroom-level execution. University destination data is [MISSING: university placement statistics not publicly available], limiting direct comparison with peer schools on post-18 outcomes.