INTERNATIONAL Indian School, Dammam (IISD) – established in 1982, is one of the largest schools affiliated to the CBSE in the world with over 17,000 students and a 1,000 strong faculty. The school imparts education to Indian children in the age group of 3–17 years in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The School Motto is ‘In Quest of Excellence’. It is committed to provide quality education with positive emphasis on character formation and help the younger generation of India, growing up away from their motherland, become complete individuals. For more than three and a half decades, IIS Dammam has been satisfactorily serving the educational aspirations of the Indian youth here and many of its alumni are serving in high positions with multinationals and corporates worldwide.

Through the years, the school has established a remarkable reputation of academic and co-curricular excellence. Functioning with most modern infrastructure and amenities, IIS Dammam has the unique distinction of having a ‘Special Child Care’ Section nurturing children with special abilities. The school has fully automated libraries in all the sections with a collection of over 60,000 volumes with a regular acquisition program. Our Labs have the most modern facilities.

This community school is governed by a seven-member managing committee, elected by the parents, and the Principal & Head of the Institution is serving as its member secretary. It functions under the aegis of the Embassy of India, Riyadh, and according to the guidance of the Department of Foreign and Private Schools in the Ministry of Education, KSA and the Higher Board for Indian Schools in the Kingdom. The Ambassador of India to the Kingdom is the school patron.

IIS Dammam, though presenting the largest number of students from Gulf, has been achieving 100% meritorious results in the All India Secondary School (AISSC) and All India Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (AISSCE) conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Delhi. In the co-curricular arena, IIS Dammam has made impressive strides at the cluster level and has achieved remarkable gains in the CBSE National Meets too.

Our Academic Program includes many innovative activities. The school regularly recruits teachers through a very transparent and meticulous three-tier system of Written Aptitude Test, Classroom Management Assessment and Personal Interview. Staff Training Program is an important agenda of its academic calendar. Staff training and empowerment programs are organized on regular basis in order to improve the quality of teaching. Mentor support given to the newly recruited teachers helps to acquaint and familiarize themselves with the school system and modern methods of teaching.

School Foundation Day is celebrated with much pomp and splendor every year wherein long serving faculty is honored. School conducts annual academic awards ceremony to felicitate meritorious students. A Career Fair is organized annually with participation from different universities and colleges to enlighten senior students in the choice of an ideal course and career path. Spectra and EduEX, Science and Educational Exhibitions, demonstrating the scientific talents of our children, are being conducted annually. In the literary area, the school has two publications — School Annual ‘Focus’, reflecting the literary skill of our students and “Cascade’, a quarterly newsletter as a channel of parent-teacher communication. Our students bring out two publications on their own — Torch by the boys and Avenue by the girls.

Parent-teacher meetings are arranged for various sections in order to have healthy and cordial discussions and to have good relations among parents, students and teachers. The school counselors organize meetings with parents and students to orient them regarding parenting and the required support to be given to children in order to bring them up in a lovable and affectionate environment. Orientation programs are conducted on health education, against drugs, tobacco etc. Sessions are conducted on how to appear in examinations without fear and anxiety. The Principal Dr. Mohammed Shaffe serves as a telecounselor for CBSE an helps students through online counseling during the exam period for the last 9 years. School also extends support to financially backward students to continue their studies with the support of community organizations.

The school has a vibrant Scouts & Guides Squadron as part of the National Bharat Scouts & Guides. In spite of several challenges, IIS Dammam is living up to its motto of serving the community through social service activities. Currently the School Management is taken care by the elected Managing Committee headed by Dr. Syed Zainul Abidin, chairman, along with members Mohammad Abdul Waris, Rasheed Ummer C K, Irfan Iqbal Khan and Hasnain Mohammed Akhtar.