The Indian AcademyPrincipal & Leadership Team

The Indian Academy is operated by LEAMS Education, a group with over 40 years in the education sector across Dubai. The school is currently led by Acting Principal Ms. Prarthana Kale, who brings over a decade of leadership experience in the UAE. The KHDA inspection report dated 2023–2024 lists the principal at the time of inspection as Ms. Shiny Davison Francis, appointed 16 August 2022; Ms. Kale has since assumed the acting role, representing a leadership transition that parents should note. The school's middle leadership structure is well-defined, with named phase leads including Ms. Anjana Menon as Head of Primary, Ms. Bernadite Rakhee as Head of Kindergarten, Ms. Neethu Mohan as Head of Inclusion, and Ms. Bindu Marina Shaji as Head of Secondary.

KHDA's 2023–2024 inspection rated the effectiveness of leadership as Good and governance as Good, with school self-evaluation and improvement planning also rated Good. The standout result in this domain is the school's community relationships: parents and the community rated Outstanding — the only Outstanding rating in the leadership and management section. Inspectors noted that leaders have built very strong bonds with parents, keeping them well informed and involved. In practice, this translates to WhatsApp communication channels, an open-door policy, Coffee Morning events, and parent-initiated cultural activities. This level of engagement is a genuine differentiator for TIAD within the Indian curriculum segment in Dubai.

A key area for improvement flagged by inspectors is accountability: procedures for holding leaders at all levels to account for the quality of learning, teaching and assessment at classroom level are not yet rigorous enough. This is a meaningful caveat for parents — the school's vision and community culture are strong, but translating that into consistently high classroom outcomes across all subjects and phases remains a work in progress.

On teaching quality, the 2023–2024 inspection found teaching to be Very Good in Kindergarten and Good across Primary, Middle and Secondary, with inspectors noting undue variation across subjects and phases. Teachers are described as having secure subject knowledge, though personalised differentiation and use of assessment data in lessons are identified as areas needing development. The school employs 94 teachers and 20 teaching assistants across a roll of 1,543 students, producing a student-to-teacher ratio of 1:16 — slightly above the Dubai-wide average of 1:14 across 204 schools, though broadly in line with expectations for an affordable Indian curriculum school. [MISSING: staff qualification percentages and staff retention/turnover data from inspection or WSA sources.] The school's wellbeing report noted that staff express high satisfaction with their work and feel their contributions are valued — a positive, if informal, signal of staff morale.

TIAD has maintained a Good KHDA rating for six consecutive inspection cycles from 2017–2018 through 2023–2024, having improved from Acceptable in the four preceding years. Among Indian curriculum schools in Dubai, 14 of 34 rated schools hold a Good rating, with only one holding Outstanding — placing TIAD solidly in the mainstream of its peer group. The school's National Agenda Parameter was rated Outstanding, a result that reflects well on leadership's strategic focus and is among the most concrete evidence of effective school-wide direction.