Low turnout marks IISR elections

A low voter turnout of just 33 percent marked the elections to the governing body of the International Indian School-Riyadh (IISR), results of which were announced late on Saturday night.
IISR Principal S.M. Shaukat Perwez told Arab News that the election was held in a fair and transparent manner.
The newly elected members of the managing committee are Shafi Ahmed Sattar (Karnataka), Dilshad Ahmad (Uttar Pradesh), S.H. Hyder Ali (Tamil Nadu), Ommar Niaz (Kerala), Ibrahim Rahmatullah (Tamil Nadu), Mohammed Naseeruddin (Andhra Pradesh) and Roji Mavelil Mathew (Kerala).
Shafi Ahmad Sattar polled the highest number of votes with 1,085, followed by Dilshad Ahmad (1,039), S.H. Hyder Ali (1,014), P. Ommar Niaz (968), Ibrahim Rahmatullah (940), Mohammed Naseeruddin (917) and Roji Mavelil Mathew (869).
Apart from the seven-member election commission constituted to ensure free and fair election, a representative from the Saudi Ministry of Education and another from the Indian Embassy were on the election panel.
Parents stayed away from the election process despite a call from the IISR principal to about 5,000 of them “to vote in large numbers and to make the most of the opportunity to choose from a wide range of candidates.”
The list of candidates running for election was announced on Monday, and a total of 16 candidates were in the run for the committee.
The new governing body faces several challenges including regularizing the status of female teachers, academic improvement, transparency in school accounts, better transport system and an immediate need to shift the IISR girls section as it is crowded because of the growing number of students.
Founded in October 1982, the IISR is one of the largest schools in the Kingdom, with 10,000 students and 500 teachers. This English medium school has separate sections for boys and girls.
The school is affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in New Delhi, India, and is licensed under the Saudi Ministry of Education.