When we came to Doha 3 years ago we were advised 3 schools. DMIS, DPS-MIS or Birla Public School.
DMIS used to be managed by the UAE Varkey group (GEMS) and at that time it was a very good school. They were taken over by another group and I am told by some parents that the quality of the school has fallen. They are also more expensive compared to the other schools.
Initially we put our eldest in Birla (grade 3) and she was doing well except she had a big problem with the French subject (2nd language). We came from Dubai and the school there was did not have a french teacher for a few months so my daughter who was new to the language had lost touch hence forgotten most ofhte language. Then she came here and they were teaching french in full swing. She needed a bit extra help to be able to catch up with the class. The school had extra classes for sports but not for the french subject and after my many notes to the teacher and un answered phone calls I approached the HOD only to find her helpless too. The teacher was summoned but she offered very little assistance as school teachers cannot take tutions at home by rule of the school!!!!
After searching for months, I found an excellent teacher in DPS-MIS and my daughter who used to go to Birla was now going to DPS-MIS for tutions after school hrs. DPS allowed children from other school to go to their school for tutions after school hrs. Then I thought why not change her to that school if they school is providing such excellent academic support for a child as compred to Birla.
After moving her to DPS-MIS I learnt that DPS is way ahead of other CBSC schools in terms of portions being taught in the class. Other schools do not start 3rd language until the 5th grade but DPS started the same in the 3rd standard. Likewise with othe subjects, its a lot for a child so small to grasp. So now I am struggling with helping her catchup with Hindi because she missed on the basics which was taught in grade 3 and she joined the school in grade 4!!!
However her french is excellent and she is doing fine in other subjects except Hind. My second daughter has also joined DPS at grade kg1 and now she is in Prep B. KG 1 she had a very nice, well trained teacher who came here from DPS in India and my 4 yr old's foundation is very good thanks to that teacher. Her KG 2 teacher is also very nice, strict but well trained and has high standards. I did notice though that a friends daughter in DMIS had lesser portions to cover as compared to my daughter for example my daughter was studying numbers 1-100 and her child was only being taught 1-50 etc
So, long story cut short :-) it all depends on what suits you for your child. If only I could mix and match a little bit from that school and a bit from this school I could have the sort of perfect school. List down what your priorities are, bus pick up and drop timings, check the text books and see how much your child has to study in that particular school as compared to another school etc. School fees and bus fees is almost the same with DPS and Birla. DMIS like i said is quite high but they dont load the kids with a lot and the same with Birla.
One more thing, in Birla the teacher in grade 3 was sweet and poliet but her english was worst that my nanny!!!
When we came to Doha 3 years ago we were advised 3 schools. DMIS, DPS-MIS or Birla Public School.
DMIS used to be managed by the UAE Varkey group (GEMS) and at that time it was a very good school. They were taken over by another group and I am told by some parents that the quality of the school has fallen. They are also more expensive compared to the other schools.
Initially we put our eldest in Birla (grade 3) and she was doing well except she had a big problem with the French subject (2nd language). We came from Dubai and the school there was did not have a french teacher for a few months so my daughter who was new to the language had lost touch hence forgotten most ofhte language. Then she came here and they were teaching french in full swing. She needed a bit extra help to be able to catch up with the class. The school had extra classes for sports but not for the french subject and after my many notes to the teacher and un answered phone calls I approached the HOD only to find her helpless too. The teacher was summoned but she offered very little assistance as school teachers cannot take tutions at home by rule of the school!!!!
After searching for months, I found an excellent teacher in DPS-MIS and my daughter who used to go to Birla was now going to DPS-MIS for tutions after school hrs. DPS allowed children from other school to go to their school for tutions after school hrs. Then I thought why not change her to that school if they school is providing such excellent academic support for a child as compred to Birla.
After moving her to DPS-MIS I learnt that DPS is way ahead of other CBSC schools in terms of portions being taught in the class. Other schools do not start 3rd language until the 5th grade but DPS started the same in the 3rd standard. Likewise with othe subjects, its a lot for a child so small to grasp. So now I am struggling with helping her catchup with Hindi because she missed on the basics which was taught in grade 3 and she joined the school in grade 4!!!
However her french is excellent and she is doing fine in other subjects except Hind. My second daughter has also joined DPS at grade kg1 and now she is in Prep B. KG 1 she had a very nice, well trained teacher who came here from DPS in India and my 4 yr old's foundation is very good thanks to that teacher. Her KG 2 teacher is also very nice, strict but well trained and has high standards. I did notice though that a friends daughter in DMIS had lesser portions to cover as compared to my daughter for example my daughter was studying numbers 1-100 and her child was only being taught 1-50 etc
So, long story cut short :-) it all depends on what suits you for your child. If only I could mix and match a little bit from that school and a bit from this school I could have the sort of perfect school. List down what your priorities are, bus pick up and drop timings, check the text books and see how much your child has to study in that particular school as compared to another school etc. School fees and bus fees is almost the same with DPS and Birla. DMIS like i said is quite high but they dont load the kids with a lot and the same with Birla.
One more thing, in Birla the teacher in grade 3 was sweet and poliet but her english was worst that my nanny!!!
Hope my long story has helped :-)