DAMMAM, 15 June — Parents of students at the International Indian School elected a new managing committee Thursday night, which will run the school for three years.
Indian Embassy first secretary, Zikrur Rahman, who is in charge of Indian schools in the Kingdom, was praised by candidates as well as their supporters for holding “a free and fair election”.
Out of 4,757 voters, 1,948 parents — or some 40.9 percent — cast their votes. Of the 12 candidates, seven were to be elected.
S.M. Farook of Tamil Nadu, who is regional manager of Budget Rent-a-Car, bagged the maximum number of votes (1,617). Kaleem Ahmad of Uttar Pradesh state, who works at SCECO, came second with 1,548 votes. The other five elected members were Sajjad Wahid of SCECO (1,485 votes), Syed Ahmad Ali of KFUPM (1,234), Dr. Anwar Ahsan of Maternity Hospital (1,178), Koya Anachereyil of Binzagr Group (1,151), and K.M. Nazar of Red Sea Industrial Supply & Contracting Co. (1,130).
The defeat of Abdullah Manjeri, a social activist, and Pervez Zahir Khan, a member of the outgoing committee, came as big surprises.
Mubarak Hamad Bubshait, director of international schools at the General Directorate of Education, supervised the polls and expressed his satisfaction over the whole process.
The new committee is to meet on Wednesday to elect its chairman. It is expected that S.M. Farook will emerge as their unanimous choice.
This was the first election at the Dammam school after a directive from the Ministry of Education ordered all international schools to constitute elected managing committees. Elections are also due at Indian schools in Jeddah and Riyadh.