Arab News could not confirm their names from the election commission but informed sources said Arif Khan from Bihar and Mohammed Abdul Majeed from Andhra Pradesh withdrew their papers on the last date of withdrawal on Saturday. A final list will be displayed on the school's website today.

Among the remaining 18 candidates, six are from Andhra Pradesh, four from Kerala, three from Bihar, two from Uttar Pradesh, and one each from Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Only seven members are to be elected for the new committee and the rules bar voters from selecting more than two candidates from any particular state.

The candidates are Abdulla Manjeri (Kerala), Shamshad Ahmed (Delhi), Javed Hafeez (Uttar Pradesh), Mohammed Abdul Waris (Andhra Pradesh), Syed Qaiser Ali (Bihar), Hasnain Mohammed Akhtar (Uttar Pradesh), Hakeem Mahmood Dowla (Andhra Pradesh), Haradwala Mohammed Farooque (Gujarat), Mohammed Moizuddin (Andhra Pradesh), R. Sunil Mohammad (Kerala), Abdul Hai Munawar (Andhra Pradesh), K.M. Thirunavukkarasu (Tamil Nadu), Raju Kurian (Kerala), Mohammad Omer Zaman Khan (Andhra Pradesh), Mohammed Zulfeqar (Bihar), Ravi Radhakrishna Murthy (Andhra Pradesh), Khurshid Anwer (Bihar) and Nazeer Mohammed Zahid (Kerala).

According to a list of voters published on the school’s website, more than 9,000 parents are eligible to vote. The school managing committee is elected for a three-year term. When constituted, this will be the fourth elected managing committee at the Dammam school. The election system has its fair share of critics and admirers.

Elections were last held in November 2008 and the response from the parent community then was lackadaisical at best. Only 2,000 out of the 9,000 voters voted.