Indian international school group Amity is opening a branch in Amstelveen and hopes to have 100 pupils by the start of the next academic year, the Parool said on Thursday.

The Amity International School Amsterdam will start off as a primary school but hopes to expand to 500 pupils across all age groups by 2021. The school will be located in the former Van Leer headquarters on the Amsterdamseweg.

The Parool says Amity, which has schools in 12 countries, plans to invest €6m in rebuilding the property, which is a listed building. Amstelveen and Amsterdam city councils have pledged to invest €2.5m while a similar amount will come from national government.

Earlier this year, economic affairs minister Henk Kamp said €10.7m had been earmarked to boost the number of international school places in Amsterdam and The Hague. The waiting lists for existing international schools are said to be disadvantaging Amsterdam in attracting new foreign investment.