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Bangalore at a Glance

Education in Bangalore

The inhabitants of Bangalore face the highest traffic density in India.

Foreigners’ Registration

When visiting the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office, make sure you have all the documents required for registration with you to avoid a second visit. Waiting times can be long and the bureaucracy is sometimes frustrating. The necessary standard documents are:

• four recent passport-size photographs
• your passport and a photocopy of the photo and the visa page
• proof of your residential address in India

Depending on your visa category, you might also need to supply one of the following:

• Student Visa: a Bonafide Certificate from your college or university in Bangalore
• Business Visa: documents proving the authenticity of your business and – in case of joint ventures with an Indian company – Government and Reserve Bank approval; a letter from your Indian business partners, taking responsibility for you while you stay in Bangalore (also known as “undertaking”)

• Journalist Visa: an accreditation certificate from the Press Information Bureau and approval by the Ministry of External Affairs for your coverage of events in India
• Employment Visa: your work contract, a letter from your employer in Bangalore, taking responsibility for you during your stay (“undertaking”), and – if you want to stay for more than one year – a copy of your income tax papers
• Research Visa: Bonafide Certificate and an official letter from the institution that sponsors your research

School System

While there are some good state schools in Bangalore, the majority of them fall short of Western standards in terms of equipment and teacher-student ratio. There are plenty of good private schools educating the offspring of Bangalore’s growing middle classes, which offer a perfectly reasonable standard of teaching.

The first language of instruction in private schools tends to be English, but learning one of the local languages (mostly Hindi and/or Kannada, the official language of Karnataka) is usually compulsory in regular schools. Most expats in Bangalore thus send their older children to an international school, of which there are plenty around the city. Concerning preschools, many expat families simply take their children to one of the small local privately run preschools, which are scattered all around town.

International Schools

Bangalore’s international schools are mostly situated in the northern or eastern suburbs. In the east, the Whitefield / Sarjapur Road area is particularly popular with expats as it houses the offices of many software companies. As a result, a number of international schools have opened up in the vicinity, for example, Greenwood High, Indus International, the International School Bangalore, Inventure Academy, etc.

International schools in the north of Bangalore include Mallya Aditi, Trio World School, and Vidyashilp Academy. Another cluster of international schools has developed in the south, near the technology hub Electronic City, e.g. Ebenezer International School or Sherwood High. The following schools are full members of the Council of International Schools association:

• Bangalore International School
• Canadian International School
• Stonehill International School

All three of them also offer the International Baccalaureate diploma. If you need further information on IB schools in Bangalore, please consult the official IBO website. Two more websites for expats looking for an international school in Bangalore are BangaloreSchools and the education section of Karnataka.com.

Most international schools provide a school bus pick-up service and other services tailored to the needs of expat children. However, tuition fees can be exorbitantly high, and it is not always easy to get a place in one of these schools, especially once the school year has started. Sometimes children have to sit through a test or attend a personal interview. Any documents and school reports testifying to your child’s academic level and achievement can speed up or facilitate the enrollment process.