JOUF/JEDDAH, 18 March — A fire broke out at the 8th Primary Girls’ School in Sakaka on Saturday and the authorities said that it had destroyed a storeroom. The blaze, which was put out quickly by Civil Defense firemen, did not cause any harm either among students or teachers.
The Sakaka school fire, however, sent shock waves among parents and students as it took place in less than a week after a major blaze at the Intermediate Girls’ School No. 31 in Makkah that killed 15 schoolgirls — including a girl who died on Saturday — and injured 52 others.
Maj. Gen. Abdul Rahman Al-Badi, director of Civil Defense in Sakaka, said his officers rushed to the school and put out the fire immediately.
Turki Al-Ghali, director of girls’ education in the Jouf region, told Arab News that a committee was set up to investigate the fire. He expected the committee to present its report within 24 hours.
The Makkah school fire has prompted the authorities to conduct a survey of all rented school buildings in various parts of the country.
A special committee in Jeddah has urged the authorities to close down 20 girls’ schools as they were being run without license.
The committee also wanted to evacuate students from six other schools in Jeddah as they were operating at buildings unsuitable for schools. However, the evacuation has been delayed due to a lack of alternative facilities.
The girls’ education department in Jeddah has decided to present a report on the condition of rented buildings to the committee set up by Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard.
Abdul Kareem Al-Hoqail, acting director of girls’ education in the Makkah region, told Arab News that the issue will be raised to the committee because of lack of replacements for existing buildings.
He said the committee will be informed of the situation of some 130 rented buildings, as some of them are more than 10 years old and others lack basic safety requirements such as emergency exits.
Ali Al-Qarni, chairman of the committee, said the investigation into the issue of unlicensed rented buildings proved that the buildings were taken for housing purpose, not for running schools.
He said the schools in such buildings will be closed and the violators will be asked to return the fees taken from students.
About 65 percent of schools under the Presidency of Girls’ Education are in rented buildings, according to Abdul Rahman Al-Ahmad, PGE undersecretary for projects and maintenance. Speaking to Al-Riyadh newspaper, he said the presidency had presented a long-term plan to get rid of the rented buildings.
“We will be able to open 50 government schools annually. But we require 350 schools, at the rate of one school a day, because of population increase and expansion of education,” he added.
A total of 5,700 schools are now operating in rented buildings. “We requested 500 schools, but the Finance Ministry made allocations for only 189 this year,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ali Al-Almae, a former director of girls’ education in Ahsa, said the Presidency of Girls’ Education must take responsibility for the rented buildings as it has been given all power to take appropriate decisions on the matter.
Speaking to Al-Watan daily, Dr. Almae also proposed a merger of the presidency in the Education Ministry.
