The letter arrived late last week for hundreds of families whose children attend Sabari Indian School in Al Wuheida. Two signatures sat at the bottom—one from the outgoing owner, another from the incoming.
Between those signatures lay assurances that might seem routine but carry weight for any parent navigating Dubai’s education landscape: no changes to staff contracts, no disruption to parent agreements, business as usual for the 13-year-old CBSE institution. Yet everything had changed. Sabari, a school that has quietly served thousands of Indian families since 2013, now belongs to Newron—the education arm of India’s ODM Educational Group—marking the network’s first venture beyond its home country.
The acquisition from Al Najah Education was confirmed on 30 January 2026. For ODM, it represents a calculated entry into the Emirates’ intensely competitive private school market. For Sabari’s community, it signals a fresh chapter for an institution currently holding a “Good” rating from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority.
That rating matters. In Dubai’s educational hierarchy, “Good” sits mid-tier. Ambitious parents eye “Very Good” and “Outstanding” schools. ODM knows this. The group has already outlined what it calls an improvement roadmap—one aimed squarely at pushing Sabari toward that “Very Good” designation in upcoming KHDA inspection cycles.
Whether that’s achievable remains the question parents will be asking.
“We are honored to carry forward the legacy of Sabari Indian School, a name that has earned immense goodwill within Dubai’s education community,” said Swoyan Satyendu, CEO of Newron and ODM Educational Group. “Our goal is to build upon this strong foundation, empowering students and educators with modern practices, digital integration, and holistic learning experiences that define ODM’s approach. We look forward to collaborating closely with the KHDA, Al Najah Education, and the broader school community in this journey of growth.”
The language is careful. Satyendu’s statement walks a fine line—respecting what Sabari has built while signalling change is coming. Modern practices. Digital integration. Holistic experiences. The specifics will matter more than the buzzwords.
ODM arrives with credentials. Headquartered in India, the group serves over 11,500 students across six schools scattered through Bhubaneswar, Ranchi, Durgapur, Gurgaon, and Angul. It originated in Odisha, carving out a reputation for consistent academic results and what it describes as robust teacher development programmes. The network blends traditional academic rigour with sports, leadership training, and technology—a formula that has worked across multiple Indian cities.
Now comes the test of exporting that model.
Dubai’s Indian expatriate families have options. Plenty of them. CBSE schools dot the emirate, each vying for enrolment, each promising excellence. The KHDA rating system—transparent, public, unforgiving—creates a marketplace where reputation shifts with each inspection cycle. A school rated “Good” can climb. It can also stagnate.
Sabari built its foundation on what many describe as a nurturing, values-based approach. Under Al Najah Education—itself a respected player in UAE education investment and management—the school developed strong roots in community engagement and inclusivity. That’s the legacy ODM inherits. Maintaining it while driving improvement will require more than strategic plans.
The joint letter sent to parents, co-signed by Raza Khan of Al Najah Education and Satyendu, emphasised continuity. Staff contracts remain intact. Parent agreements stand unchanged. Day-to-day operations continue uninterrupted. These aren’t small assurances. Ownership transitions can unsettle school communities, spark teacher departures, prompt parental anxiety. ODM appears determined to avoid that turbulence.
Still, questions linger. What prompted Al Najah Education to sell? Financial terms weren’t disclosed. The timeline for achieving that “Very Good” rating remains vague—”upcoming KHDA inspection cycles” could mean one year or several. And what exactly will “modern practices” look like in classrooms come September?
For now, the transition appears designed for seamlessness. But seamless transitions and ambitious improvement roadmaps can pull in different directions. Change requires disruption. Improvement demands new approaches. The challenge for ODM will be balancing the stability it has promised with the transformation it clearly believes necessary.
The acquisition also signals broader trends. Indian education groups, having consolidated domestically, increasingly eye international markets—particularly the Gulf, where large Indian expatriate populations create natural demand for CBSE curriculum schools. The UAE, with its regulatory frameworks and established private education sector, offers a testing ground. If ODM succeeds in Dubai, other markets may follow. If it stumbles, the lesson will be noted across the industry.
Sabari’s staff will be watching internal changes closely. Teachers know when new ownership brings fresh expectations. Professional development programmes, revised curricula, altered reporting structures—these typically follow acquisitions, regardless of initial continuity pledges. How ODM implements its teacher development model, honed across six Indian schools, in the Dubai context will prove telling.
Parents, meanwhile, will measure success differently. Examination results, university placements, the atmosphere their children describe at home each evening. And, inevitably, that next KHDA inspection report.
The timing of the acquisition—late January, midway through the academic year—suggests both parties wanted resolution before the 2026-27 enrolment cycle begins in earnest. New ownership under ODM’s banner may influence parental decisions for families considering Sabari for next year. The group’s track record in India offers reassurance. Its lack of UAE operating history introduces uncertainty.
What’s clear is that Sabari Indian School, a fixture in Al Wuheida for over a decade, enters unfamiliar territory. The school that served its community quietly under Al Najah Education now carries the expectations of a network making its first international play. ODM has staked its regional ambitions on this single Dubai school.
By the time the next KHDA inspection arrives, the results of that gamble will start becoming visible. For the hundreds of families who received that letter last week, the promise of continuity matters now. The promise of improvement will be measured later.
For ODM, there’s no second chance at a first impression. The group’s reputation beyond India will be written in the classrooms of Al Wuheida.