JEDDAH, 9 June — Seven members have been elected to the board of directors (BoD) of the Pakistan International School, Jeddah (PISJ), through a ballot organized on Thursday under the directives of the Saudi Ministry of Education. The BoD members have been elected for a two-year term.
Massod Javed bagged the highest number of votes —724 — followed by the other six candidates — Sarfaraz Khan (674 votes), Syed Muneebullah Hussaini (685 votes), Syed Waliullah Hussaini (685 votes), Umar Babar (635 votes) and Malik Belal Nasir (626 votes). These members will now elect a chairman from among themselves.
The polling which started at 2:00 p.m. continued till 10 p.m. in the presence of six officials from the Directorate of Foreign Education. The turnout was poor considering the fact that out of over 4,200 parents who were supposed to cast their vote only 829 chose to exercise their right of franchise. The school had no BoD for over eight years.
Speaking to Arab News, the principal of the school, retired Wing Commander Muhammad Siddique, said he was “very optimistic about the new arrangement and hoped the elected BoD would fulfill the aspirations and expectation of the vibrant Pakistani community in Jeddah.” Talking about the arrangements, the principal said his main objective was to “ensure transparency and neutrality in the whole process.”
He said 10 people had filed nomination papers but one paper was rejected after scrutiny, leaving only nine candidates in the run for seven seats.
The administrative officer of the school, Syed Esar Hussain Shah, who was also the chief election commissioner, said all arrangements had been put in place well before the polling started.
Four polling booths were made in the school auditorium for the casting of votes and to ensure privacy. Four polling officers, four assistant polling officers, 2 helpers were part of a 85-member team constituted to handle the polling arrangements. During polling no candidate was allowed in the polling room. They had deputed their polling agents there.
Masood Javed’s polling agent Mirza Najmul Hassan said polling was fair and they were satisfied with the arrangements made by the school authorities. Mohsin Ali’s agent, Khalil Ahmad Azam, Malik Belal Nasir’s polling agent Rana Zulfikar and Furqan Ahmad also appreciated the cooperation extended by school officials.
The representatives of Directorate of Foreign Education, Mustafa Harsi, Abdul Rahman Areesh and others were available in the school premises throughout the polling hours and helped parents in casting their votes. Harsi who is a veteran now having overseen elections in various international schools said the “whole exercise was transparent.” Harsi and the school principal, were, however, disappointed with the low turnout. Most of the community members preferred to remain indoors and watch cricket match rather than go to school and cast their votes.
Some of the community members who refrained from voting were of the opinion that the whole process was a farce and it was not going to result in any betterment of the academic standard of the school. But they had no logical argument to support their contention.