RIYADH, 2 November 2004 — A section of parents at the Bangladesh International School in Riyadh, disturbed by the removal of three members from the school’s board of management, has called for a general meeting of parents to discuss the future of the institution.
Of the five members on the board, the Ministry of Education has dismissed Syed Ejaz Rasul, Fakrul Khabir and Dr. Nurul Amin and retained Dr. Mohammed Nazrul Islam (chairman) and Dr. Shah Alam (vice chairman) while adding a new member, Mohammed Jamal Uddin, who emerged sixth in the last board elections.
Around 170 out of the 492 parents have signed a petition addressed to their country’s ambassador and to the Ministry of Education urging them to hold a general meeting of parents to discuss such matters as the dismissal of board members, annual budget, statement of accounts and the appointment of teachers. The school, which has 842 students on the rolls with 62 teachers, has a reserve of SR1.4 million.
In a letter dated Oct. 31 and addressed to the parents, the present board of management responded to the call by announcing that a general meeting of parents will be held when the school reopens after Ramadan holidays. Arrangements will be made to hold parent-teacher meeting at class levels for the two parties to get to know the problems of students.
The letter, signed by the three current board members — Dr. Islam, Dr. Alam and Jamal Uddin — recalled that although the board was elected in June 2003, it could not function at all due to total non-cooperation of the three members (who were subsequently dismissed ) with the chairman and the vice chairman of the school.
“The three members caused obstructions to each and every activity of the school,” the letter stated, adding that they were so obstinate that the Ministry of Education was forced to sack them.
Regarding transparency of school activities, a new office automation software is being introduced for the parents to monitor collection of school fees, inventory, administrative and financial management, teachers’ schedule and fixed assets of the school.
Under this program, each parent will be given a password to access this program from home. A qualified chartered accountant and database system administrator have been appointed to install and monitor the program.
Regarding the appointment of teachers, a spokesman from the school said: “There is a recruitment committee that handles this matter to ensure right people get into right jobs.” He added that the school had also appointed a Salaries Anomalies Commission to regularize the salaries of teachers and administrative staff.
The spokesman pointed out that the school had been running without a permanent principal under the previous regime.