Good Shepherd International School

The complete soul of the School. ROME– 8 October 2020

I like to discover small realities hidden in the migrant texture of Rome.

To try to tell even more from what is under our eyes every day.

The various migrant communities sometimes join forces to create interesting and culturally important situations.

As it was for this private school: The Good Shepherd International School.

A Bangladeshi friend of mine, Khan, who teaches at this school told me about it and I went to see.

The School has two buildings, not too far from each other, on Via Tiburtina.

Teacher and Principal with her student-daughter.

“Good Shepherd International School, Rome started in the year 2019 with the cooperation of prominent personalities from India and Srilanka is moving ahead successfully. The school building is under the zone of Rome’s educational field Ministero dell'Istruzione with a wide campus of more than 10000 Sq.mtrs. The school also offers many educational oriented courses for students from different nationalities. We function according to the legal system of educational institutions in Italy.”

As it is written on their site.

In fact, their inauguration in December 2019 was then thwarted by the lockdown that closed everything for months.

I've been there in this month, twice, and the lessons are starting well.

The children, mostly Indians, however from Southeast Asia, are 25 for now, but there are continuing enrollments.

The teachers, almost all from Indian Kerala, with exceptions from Sri Lanka (the traditional dance teacher) and Bangladesh, are nine and many of them also hold managerial and administrative roles within the school.

The school welcomes young students throughout the year, and teaches every subject as in Italian schools, but in English.

There are also typical school subjects, such as yoga, or “Moral Science"”, because one of the cornerstones of the School – whose Academic Director is an Indian Catholic priest – is freedom of religion, so that children are taught to be open minded and religious tolerance.

The school includes kindergarten from 2 to 5 years, up to the last grade 4 with children of 10 years.

I am fascinated by these realities because they offer a different perspective on how migrant communities live in our cities, especially when education is at the fore.

Chairman

Joseph Karumathy

Founder and MD
Joby Jose

Academic Director
Fr. Roy Antony Valiyaparambil

Principal
Roisy Sibi

Vice Principal
Soumya Susan George