Ibn Khuldoon National School

Infobox_School3
name = Ibn Khuldoon National School


established = 1983
type = Private
head_name = Chairman
head = Mrs. Fareeda Abdulrahman Almoayed
head_name = Vice Chairman
head = Mr. Fawaz Fahad Al-Gosaibi
city = Isa Town
country = Bahrain
grades = K-12
colors = color box|maroon Maroon
color box|white White
website = [http://www.ikns.edu.bh/]

The Ibn Khuldoon National School is a school in Manama, Bahrain.

The Ibn Khuldoon National School was founded in 1983 with 27 faculty members and 230 students from kindergarten to grade 4. The purpose of the school is to provide students with an advanced educational program that builds on Arab and Islamic values, allowing students to develop in harmony with their culture and tradition, meet the high academic standards of international education, and thus be properly prepared to assume in the future, leading roles at the national and international levels.

Students are of many different backgrounds and nationalities, however the majority are Arabs. They come from above average socio-economic backgrounds and greatly value education. With few exceptions, all students plan on continuing their higher education.The School is national in essence, with an international perspective, and is open to all students without discrimination.It is private, coeducational, non-profit, self-supporting, and bilingual at all levels.

History

On the 22nd of September 1983 the concept of a truly bi-lingual system of education took form. It all started as a dream for Bahraini parents who sought an academic institution that would be bi-lingual and cater to the specific needs of Arab children, yet would meet high international educational standards.

Private education available until that time had been conducted by a number of foreign schools which provided a high level of education, with Arabic taught as an optional subject and no particular emphasis on Islamic studies. Government schools, on the other hand, did have Arabic as the medium of education but they did not provide the standard of education that these parents wanted for their children to be able to pursue an excellent higher education.

And so the idea of the Society of The Ibn Khuldoon National School was born as an alternative which was unique, and which blended the teaching of Arabic as a language and as a culture, with a truly superior standard of education.With this intent, 44 prominent Bahraini men and women met formally as Founding Members for the first time at the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce & Industry, on the 21st November 1978. The Society obtained Government approval during December 1979, and the process became fully official with the publishing of the Society's Articles of Association in the March 1980 issue of the Official Gazette.

The first General Assembly was held, again at the Chamber of Commerce & Industry, on 26th August 1980; the first Board of Directors was elected that day, and met four days later at the offices of Mr. Mohamed Salahuddin, where Dr. Ali Mohamed Fakhro was elected Chairman. Committees were formed within the Board to set up the school. The project received the whole hearted support of Government of H.H. The Amir, Sheikh Isa Bin Salman Al Khalifa who donated 40,000 square metres of land in the Isa Town Educational Area and furthermore graciously advanced an interest-free loan of BD 1 million to start the building of the school.

On the morning of Saturday 22nd September 1983, the school officially opened its doors to the first students. Initially it had 2 kindergarten and 4 primary classes, with one class added each subsequent year. By the beginning of the 1987/88 school year,the school had 2 kindergartens (8 sections), 6 primary (18 sections) and 2 intermediate classes (3 sections). The intermediate level was completed by September 1988.

The school signed an Advisory Services Contract with the Educational Resource Centre, a division of the International College of Beirut. This contract was later substituted by a similar contract with Al Muftah Institution for Educational Services, which have since continued to act as the school's technical and educational consultants firm.

The Ibn Khuldoon National School was also unique, in that all parents were members of the General Assembly and therefore could contribute in setting the general policies of the school through the Board of Directors, which is elected bi-annually from the General Assembly. Since 1996, the school operates under a Board of Trustees. Trustees elect a Board of Directors for three years at a time (please refer to the “Board of Committees/Constitution” page) The school also elects a Parents-Teachers Association which acts as a bridge between parents and the school.

The Ibn Khuldoon National School has continued to develop over a comparatively short span of time. Every year since its opening, a new class has been added and ideas introduced. The success in the realization of its dream is now prompting the school to consider further expansion.

Accreditation and Affiliation

;International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO)

Ibn Khuldoon National School has been affiliated with the International Baccalaureate Organization since September of 1990. The first group of IKNS graduates sat for the IB examinations in May 1992.

;Middle East IB Association (MEIBA)

Ibn Khuldoon National School has been involved in founding MEIBA during the 1994-95 academic year and has been affiliated with it since then. MEIBA provides a forum for the IB schools of the Middle East to meet and discuss matter of common interest and communicates with the office of the Regional Director of the IBAEM (Africa/Europe/Middle East)

Professional Associations

;Near East South Asia Association of Schools (NESA)

Ibn Khuldoon National School is an associate member of the Near East South Asia Association of Schools (NESA). NESA’s mission is to serve member schools by providing professional development opportunities and educational services for teachers and administrators. NESA promotes professional and personal links among educators and sponsors annual conferences for member schools.

;Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)Ibn Khuldoon National School is a member of ASCD the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. ASCD is a non-profit organization that addresses all aspects of effective teaching and learning – such as professional development, educational leadership and capacity building.

External links

* [http://www.ikns.edu.bh/default.asp Ibn Khuldoon National School - official website]
* [http://www.ibo.org/diploma IBO - official website]

ee also

* List of schools in Bahrain

References