RIYADH, 14 March — Over 450 teachers and support staff of the International Indian School here are heading for a bitter confrontation with the school management following rumors that a number of teachers will be sacked for alleged incompetence and in-discipline.

The teachers were also enraged by a management decision to deduct SR100 from the salaries of staff members who failed to sell a specific number of entry tickets for the fun fair that was held on Jan. 24. Some 200 teachers were affected by the decision.

A press statement issued by the teachers strongly condemned the salary deductions to compensate the losses of fun fair. It said the poor turnout at the fair was mainly due to harsh weather conditions.

A group of parents and teachers, contacted by Arab News yesterday, criticized “the whims and fancies” of the management committee members in handling the school affairs.

Asked for a clarification, IISR Chairman Wasi Haider Rizvi strongly denied any move to sack the teachers, and said his committee would even discuss refunding the amount deducted from teachers’ salaries in a meeting today.

Rizvi said the deductions were wrongly done because of some “internal communication problem”. He assured the teachers of his full support on their legitimate demands.

The parents and the teachers said the “lady teachers were subject to the indignity of having to make solicitous announcements to attract more customers at the fun fair”. Even nursing mothers among the teachers or those who were pregnant were not exempted from the duty of “saleswomen”, they said.

They said that the principal and the director of the school have been reduced to the status of “stooges” with all day-to-day school affairs being attended by the managing committee members. The panel has usurped all powers of the head of the institution in contravention of the regulations, they charged.

Some teachers said on condition of anonymity that the present managing committee, which has the backing of the Indian Embassy, has created a fear-psychosis among the parents. No body can come forward to raise an accusing finger on the panel members because they are notorious for settling scores, they said.

Afzal Ali Jagirdar, a serving member of the committee, said the present panel was “out to plunder the SR15 million reserve in the school fund”.

Jagirdar alleged foul play in a recent deal to purchase a new bus fleet for the school saying that he was not provided with a copy of the invoice. He said the buses were bought at exorbitant rates. But Chairman Rizvi rejected the allegation saying that he has already sent an internal communication to Jagirdar in this regard.

Jagirdar, who successfully fought a lawsuit against the committee in a local court on alleged discrepancies in the renewal of the lease contract for the IISR building, said there were “discrepancies” in the school furniture contracts. He also alleged nepotism, favoritism and receiving “gifts and favors” in the recruitment of 150 teachers.

“Senior supervisors have been demoted in a recent reshuffling and promotions were given to a favored few,” said a reliable source at the school.

The parents and teachers have called on the Ministry of Education and the Indian Embassy to intervene immediately and terminate the committee, which has already completed its term last year.

The IISR is one of the largest overseas Indian institutions with nearly 10,000 students on its rolls.