School managing committees to be made more transparent

JEDDAH, 26 May— “The Indian Embassy and the Saudi Ministry of Education were in touch with each other to evolve an effective and foolproof mechanism to ensure transparency in the functioning of the International Indian Schools’ managing committees,” said Zikrur Rahman, first secretary at the embassy,

Rahman, while speaking to community members at a function organized to mark the installation of a new managing committee in the International Indian School, Taif (IIST), said that “a representative of the ministry and the embassy can at any time attend the meetings of the managing committees as observers.”

He added, “Other modalities in this regard were being worked out.”

Earlier, a five-member managing committee took charge at the IIST on Wednesday. The installation ceremony was attended by Ministry of Education, Riyadh, representative and Supervisor General of the Directorate of Foreign Education, Abdullah Hadi Al-Shaikhali, Director of Education in Taif, Muhammad Al-Ghamdi and Rahman.

Abdul Hafeez Siddiqui took over as the new chairman while Nazir Aslam is the vice chairman of the IIST. The other three members of the MC are Dr. Junaid Ahmad, Dr. Abdul Ghaffar and Mohiuddin Ahmad.

A heartfelt farewell was also given to the outgoing MC members and their achievements and sincere efforts in the foundation of the IIST were lauded by the speakers. Mementos were also given by Al-Shaikhali to the previous committee members.

Speakers singled out Dr. Anwar Khurshid, one of the founding members of the IIST, for his tireless efforts to make the Indian school a reality in Taif and later to get it affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Examinations (CBSE). Khurshid has been associated with the IIST since 1987 when it started with only 30 students.

Al-Shaikhali in his address said that all Indian schools in the Kingdom were being run under the joint responsibility and supervision of the Directorate of Foreign Education and the embassy. He advised the new members to be sincere like their predecessors and to always remember that this is a voluntary community service.

Rahman in his address said that “the embassy is not averse to holding elections for the school’s managing committees, but there is an urgent need of evolving an effective system of checks and balances to ensure accountability and transparency in their functionings.”