JEDDAH, 22 June 2004 — There is some good news for Filipinos in Abha. A new school for Pinoys will soon be open. Called Abha International School (ABIS), it will be the first school in Abha to teach the Philippine curriculum. It is located on the Abha-Khamis road.
Filipino parents in the southern region welcomed the news when community leader Jun Fermanez made the announcement at a recent community meeting.
Fermanez said the new school was owned and financed by a Saudi, Awad Saed Al Qahtani, a retired Ministry of Education official. Qahtani himself is an educator who graduated from a university in the United Kingdom with a degree in BSED English.
The lack of a school teaching the Philippine curriculum in this area forced many students to use a distance learning system or tutorial classes while some simply stayed at home. The school will have 24 classrooms and will accommodate 500 students. More than a hundred children have so far enrolled. Unlike other Philippine schools in the Kingdom, Fermanez said ABIS would start their classes the first week of September; this is in line with a royal decree advising foreign schools to follow the same timetable as the Saudi ones.
In November 2003, Fermanez sought help from the Philippine Consulate through Vice Consul Jose V. Jacob to endorse the school’s application for accreditation and license to operate. He explained that last month an MoE license no. 194-C was granted with the endorsement of Prince Khaled ibn Faisal, governor of the Southern Region and Prince Faisal ibn Khaled, vice governor.
According to Fermanez, ABIS management will seek to ensure quality, but affordable, education to all Filipino students. “It will also foster unity, cooperation and camaraderie among Filipinos in the Asir area,” Fermanez said.
Interested parents can contact the school management at 07-227-5111 or Fermanez at 050-3755416 or the sponsor, Saed Al Qahtani at 050-5740223.