“So many Indians here have incomes of only SR1,500 to SR2,000 per month,” said parent Sunil Kumar. “How can these parents afford the fee hike? And parents also have home rent, tutoring, and school transportation to pay for. With the hike I have to pay SR400 extra. This is too much.”

Parents also complained about the cost of transportation. They said there aren’t enough buses; about 1,000 of the estimated 10,000 IISR students are transported by school buses, which the school rents from SAPTCO. Some parents suggested that the school purchase buses instead, as it would save money in the long term.

“We cannot buy the buses,” said IISR principal Mansur Siddiqui. “It costs too much, and many parents pick up and drop off their children in their cars. The school buses are by choice, if the parents want to have their children transported by the school buses.”

The India Fraternity Forum in Jeddah has expressed similar complaints regarding the fee hike in the International Indian School Jeddah (IISJ) and submitted two memorandums to the Indian Minister of Overseas Affairs E. Ahamed during his recent visit to Saudi Arabia.

“We have requested the minster to intervene in the unjustifiable and unaffordable fee hike in the IISJ,” said E.M. Abdulla, general coordinator of the forum. “Most Indians in the region are living in a hand-to-mouth situation, which the minister is well aware of. We hope he will take necessary steps and use his influence to revise the hike in the IISJ.”

Another issue that came up during the parent meeting in Riyadh was male janitors working in the girls’ section of the IISR.

“It is very wrong to allow men to enter the girls’ section. It should be all-women,” said parent Jafar Ali.

Parent Mohan John said he and other parents were planning to take up the complaint with the school management and the Indian Embassy in Riyadh.

“We are going to file a very detailed complaint,” he said.

“I am worried for the safety of my daughter,” said Kumar. “Men should not be allowed to enter the girls’ section.”

Ali also expressed concern over bullies harassing IISR boys as they leave the school.

“Boys from outside come and fight with the students, and the security guards only watch. They don’t stop the fights,” he said.

Siddiqui denied that fights were occurring outside of the IISR compound, and regarding the issue of male janitors in the girls’ section, he said: “The male cleaners are only allowed to clean the toilets after school hours, after the girls leave.”

President of the Federation of Kerala Association Saudi Arabia R. Murleedharan told Arab News that his organization is committed to bringing these issues to officials concerned until they are solved.

“We are going to try and resolve these issues through the principal of the IISR and also through the Indian Embassy,” he said. “But if we are not able to resolve the issues through them, we will take the complaints to the Indian Ministry of Overseas Affairs and the Indian Ministry of External affairs.”