ALKHOBAR, 1 March 2004 — A new school for Filipino students will soon open in Jubail.
Filipino parents working in the eastern industrial city welcomed the news with a sigh of relief when community leader Peter Tito made the announcement during a meeting on Thursday at the SWCC camp.
Tito said the new school is to be sponsored by Rashid A. Al-Marri, president of the Technical Sources Company, one of the leading suppliers of industrial parts in Jubail.
All the documents required by the Ministry of Education in putting up a school are being prepared, Tito said.
Arab News learned that in April, Tito’s wife Amalia, the principal of Brimestone Academy at Dasmari?as town in Cavite, south of Manila, will be arriving in Jubail with seven teachers to teach in the new school. An application had also been filed with the Department of Education in Manila to accredit the new school to teach the Philippine curriculum.
Tito said he had sought help from Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla in Riyadh to endorse the new school’s application for accreditation and license to operate.
Tito said 55 children, most of whom are studying in Dammam, have signed up for the new school so far. He said he had received calls from parents whose children are now enrolled in other Filipino schools in Alkhobar.
Tito said interested parents could could call mobile number 059-431339 for more information.
Divided They Fell
According to survey of parents during the meeting, there are at least 150 students in Jubail.
But some parents have yet to resolve their differences, which resulted in the breakup of a Filipino community school in the city in the mid-’90s.
Just like in other places with Filipino communities, a bitter dispute among parents ended in the formation of two schools called the Philippine Embassy School in Jubail and the Philippine Community School in Jubail, none of which was recognized by the Philippine Embassy and the Saudi MOE.
Divided, the enrolment in the two schools were not enough to support their operations and both did not last long.
Some parents said they could avoid a repeat of such bitter past if they put personal interests behind and think of what’s good for their children. They said traveling to and from their homes to schools in Rahima, Ras Tanura, Dammam or Alkhobar have a negative effect on their children.
Tito also noted that Jubail students can no longer compete with their classmates in Dammam or Alkhobar either because they lack sleep or they don’t have time anymore to work on their assignments at home.
“The children have to wake up as early as four in the morning just to beat the school bus, and normally arrive back at home at seven in the evening,” he said.
Parents also expressed fears over the safety of their children while traveling on such long routes every school day.