GEMS Our Own Indian SchoolPrincipal & Leadership Team

GEMS Our Own Indian School is operated by GEMS Education, one of the world's largest private education groups, and has been under the steady leadership of Principal Lalitha Suresh since 4 January 2012 — a tenure of over thirteen years that represents a rare and meaningful continuity in Dubai's often-transient school landscape. The 2023–2024 KHDA inspection describes her as offering "very strong leadership," fully supported by other leaders and governors, with inspectors noting that she and her team have been effective in addressing key areas for improvement since the previous inspection cycle.

The senior leadership team is well-structured for a school of this scale. Key figures include Sharmistha Sengupta, Supervisor of the KG Section, who introduced personalised learning strategies later adopted across primary grades; Meera Jayaraj, Supervisor of Middle School Block B, who joined OIS in 2007 and has held multiple leadership roles over more than a decade; Prathima Nag Agraharapu, Chief Innovation and Digital Officer, with 18 years in education and 12 years at GEMS Education; and Bridson John, Manager of School Operations, with eleven years of service at GEMS Education. This depth of long-serving leadership across departments is a genuine strength and signals institutional stability rather than churn.

The school's leadership effectiveness, governance, school self-evaluation, and parent and community engagement are each rated Very Good in the 2023–2024 KHDA inspection — a consistent set of findings that reflects a well-governed institution. Governance sits within the GEMS Education framework and is KHDA-regulated. Inspectors noted that leaders exhibit firm knowledge of the school and are fully aware of both its strengths and areas for further development. One area where the inspection found room for growth is in management, staffing, facilities and resources, which was rated Good — one band below the overall school rating — suggesting that operational infrastructure has not kept full pace with the school's academic ambitions.

With 171 teachers serving 3,666 students, GEMS OIS operates at a student-to-teacher ratio of 1:21. This is notably higher than the Dubai-wide average of 1:13.6 across 204 schools with available data, and parents should weigh this carefully. Among Indian curriculum schools in Dubai — where class sizes tend to be larger than in British or IB settings — this ratio is less unusual, but it remains a meaningful consideration, particularly for families whose children may benefit from more individualised attention. The school also employs 19 teaching assistants and 1 guidance counsellor to support its large student body. [MISSING: staff qualification percentages — no data on proportion holding Masters or higher qualifications]

Staff retention signals are positive. The 2023–2024 KHDA wellbeing report notes that "staff feel appreciated and cared for and this results in high morale and strong retention of staff." This is a meaningful endorsement from inspectors and aligns with the observable pattern of long-serving leaders across the school. Parent engagement is formalised through a Parent Partnership programme, termly coffee mornings for SEND families, and notably, parents were involved in co-creating the school's vision statement — "Nurturing dynamic learners in an inclusive environment" — alongside students and teachers. The school's vision of developing global competence, embedding wellbeing, and championing inclusion appears to be genuinely lived rather than merely stated, and the inspection's Very Good rating for parents and the community reflects this.