JEDDAH, 25 March — Dr. Ali ibn Murshid Al-Murshid, head of the Presidency of Girls’ Education (PGE), was forced to take early retirement yesterday, while the presidency itself was merged with the Education Ministry. A Royal Court announcement said the decision to retire Al-Murshid was taken by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd on the recommendation of Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard.
King Fahd appointed Dr. Khidhr ibn Olayan Al-Qurashi as new deputy education minister for girls’ educational affairs, the announcement added.
The merger of the organization responsible for girls’ education with the Ministry of Education after 40 years is already being described as a milestone development in the Kingdom’s drive for modernization.
King Fahd’s decision to force the PGE chief to take retirement comes less than two weeks after 15 schoolgirls were killed and 52 wounded at the Intermediate Girls’ School No. 31 in Makkah.
The tragedy had sent shock waves throughout the Kingdom and created an uproar in the Kingdom’s press, which joined the parents in persistent calls for the resignation of top PGE officials as the only valid option if they were to accept responsibility for the appalling incident.
Addressing a Cabinet meeting last week, King Fahd promised action against those who were deemed responsible for the school tragedy. “We have set up a higher committee to investigate the incident in order to discover the exact cause of the tragedy,” the king told the ministers.
King Fahd also reaffirmed the government’s determination to protect the lives of its citizens and provide the best possible educational facilities to both boys and girls.
Soon after the tragedy, Crown Prince Abdullah had sent a cable to Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation and chairman of the Higher Education Committee, instructing him to take urgent measures to ensure that the tragic incident was not repeated.
In his long cable message, the crown prince had also threatened to take action against “negligent, incompetent and careless” PGE officials, and ordered a team to be sent immediately to inspect all school and university buildings.
Education Minister Dr. Muhammad Al-Rasheed commended yesterday’s royal decision to merge girls’ education with his ministry. “I am honored by the trust placed in the Education Ministry and will exert all my efforts to live up to your expectations,” the minister said in a message to the king and the crown prince. “The education establishment is the most important social institution in the country, as people ask them to take care of the most loved ones — their boys and girls,” Al-Rasheed said.
Dr. Al-Qurashi thanked the king personally for appointing him as deputy minister for girls’ education and called upon all education officials to undertake a joint effort to resolve outstanding problems and improve the country’s educational standards.
Meanwhile, parents and guardians of the schoolgirls killed in the incident have threatened that they will take legal action against PGE officials if investigations prove that they were indeed responsible for the school fire.
Khaled Al-Harithy, brother of Tahani, one of the 50 injured schoolgirls still receiving treatment at Al-Noor Hospital in Makkah, insisted that PGE officials must be held responsible for their negligence.
“The tragedy was not caused by the stampede alone. First, the school was overcrowded. Second, it lacked safety equipment and emergency exits,” he told Arab News.
He added that he was planning to take the Education Department in Makkah to court for housing the school in an unsuitable building.
The investigation into the school fire found a schoolgirl guilty of setting off the fire by stubbing a cigarette butt on a pile of paper. The probe also held the presidency as well as the director of the school responsible. The probe cleared the Commission for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice of any wrongdoing.
Following the Makkah tragedy, many schools in Makkah, Jeddah and other parts of the country were temporarily evacuated after the authorities reported electricity short circuits. Most girls’ schools are operating from unsuitable rented buildings.
The PGE has presented a national plan to the government, demanding construction of 5,054 schools in 10 years.
