New Delhi: The Global Indian International School, which has its branches in seven countries and imparts education with an Indian spirit, is all set to open 15 more schools in India by 2010. Of these, the first five will come up by 2009 end.

The Global Indian Foundation, a Singapore-based non-profit organisation which established the first Global Indian International School six years back in Singapore, has now grown into a healthy network of 15 schools in seven countries with more than 17,000 students.

While most students are Indians, the school also gets students from 30 other countries. Four schools are in India and the rest in Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Thailand and Singapore. This expansion will lead to an increase in their presence in India.

The first five schools will be opened in Hyderabad, Nagpur, Jodhpur, Indore and Thane.

Atul Temurnikar, co-founder and chairman of GIF said it was not only quality education, but affordable education with global standards that is important in today's scenario.

"We wanted to bring global education here, while keeping in mind affordability so that students in Hyderabad, Thane and Nagpur get exposure to world class education that promotes holistic development as well as Indian values", he added.

He said though in India, the standard of value education is remarkable but GIIS has its own role to play as they serve and nurture Indian students to become global players who can be placed in any part of the world with the increase in trade and culture relations in Asian economies.

"This is a part of our "flip-a-generation" programme," he added.

Some of the 'Indianness' that GIF tries to inculcate in its students through their curriculum are through compulsory Sanskrit classes - so every student, no matter how his pronunciation is, recites Sanskrit shlokas - and a Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Values and Thoughts, which has a library of books on Gandhi. IANS