Albina Nasyrova to open kindergarten and school for children of Russians who emigrated to Dubai
A branch of Bala City international chain of multilingual kindergartens and Cambridge school is going to open soon in the United Arab Emirates. Founder of the educational institution, deputy of the 6th State Council Albina Nasyrova told Realnoe Vremya.
Nasyrova noted that at the moment a big number of teachers from different countries worked in the chain of educational institutions. According to him, this happens because Bala City has a certificate of the University of Cambridge thanks to which it has access to a roster of teachers.
“Indeed, there are a lot of travelling teachers who visit Cambridge schools and teach. And there are thousands of these schools around the world. England, America, Canada, South Africa — these countries come. Moreover, South Africa where Elon Musk is from has very pure British English. We have a teacher from Ireland. Perhaps, he has some specifics or a nuance in his accent, but it is important the child hear and get used to it,” she said.
As Nasyrova explained, in the current political situation, the University of Cambridge stays in touch with Russian schools and continues the cooperation. However, now tests and exams cannot be sit in Russia.
“They sent us a letter saying that we were to check all tests done in year four or seven. Now nothing has to be sent to them. They will send us an assessment scale and we check everything at school ourselves. But the IGCSE and level exams in year nine, please, must be taken in partner schools of other countries, not in Russia. So our children are going abroad. We have now agreed with Turkey,” she said.
It should be reminded that Bala City Cambridge-certified international school ranks second among the most expensive private schools of the Tatarstan capital. Students study three foreign languages at once there: English, Spanish and Chinese (French and German can be added on request) and get two diplomas: a Russian state diploma and a Cambridge certificate. A big vector of attention is focused on developing soft skills. Children are promised a lot of extracurricular classes and activities — developing trips, camps and meetings. Students are also taught entrepreneurship skills based on real business cases.
It is noteworthy that according to the Russian Federal Security Service’s border service, citizens of the country made over 1.2 million trips to the UAE in 2022, including 910,000 trips as tourists. According to some data for the last year, about 10,000 Russians annually arrive to the Emirates for employment.
The UAE is also in the top countries for emigration among Russians. Turkey, Cyprus, Serbia, Georgia, Thailand are on the list too.