JEDDAH, 31 January — A dispute involving the management of the Pakistan International School in Jeddah and a group of community leaders over alleged malpractice is likely to widen despite attempts by Pakistani Embassy officials to contain the matter.
At stake is the future of 8,000 students and millions of riyals in school funds. The second largest in the city after the Indian school, the PIS spends SR100 million annually in staff salaries alone.
The dispute was brought into the open when a group claiming to be members of a community-parents committee drafted a letter to the ambassador citing what they termed "irregularities and malpractice" in the school. These involve the system of electing the school governing body, the competency of board members and management of school funds.
The school management said the accusations were unjustified, while embassy officials underlined the general policy of entertaining complaints filed by parents as well as other members of the community. However, they said that the majority of those who drafted the letter were not even parents with children attending the school and as such were not qualified to speak on the issue. All non-parents were asked to leave a community meeting called recently to discuss the school affairs.
Pakistan’s Consul General in Jeddah, Muhammad Amin Choudhry, said he had received the six members of the committee and told them that the authorities would do whatever was necessary in the interests of the school.
Masud Javaid, chairman of the school board of directors, said there would always be those who have a vested interest in raising such accusations.
"Those people came to me. I told them we would see if there was any element of truth in what they claim. We would do what was necessary for the interest of the school according to Saudi and Pakistani laws," he said.
Iftikhar Choudhry, who claimed he was speaking in his capacity as the chairman of the committee, said they plan to pursue all legal means until what he described as "these faulty practices" are corrected.
"We are thankful to the consul general, but our complaints are still valid. It is true some of the committee members are not parents, but they care about their community," said Choudhry, an engineer by profession and father of two children studying at the school.
The complaints focus on the following: the election of the governing body held under the current by-laws are opposed by many and must be changed; the one-man-one-vote formula should replace the current one-man-eight votes; the governing body should refrain from interfering in the school’s day-to-day affairs; the hiring and firing of teachers should be done in a proper manner; the school funds must be managed in a way that does not put them in jeopardy; the administration should act free of any political affiliation, and a new code of conduct — which includes a dress code and imposes strict restrictions on teachers and students — has to be revised.
Refuting the accusations, Javaid said that almost all other community schools follow the same system of election, with the exception of the Pakistan school in Riyadh. He cited the achievements of the school under the incumbent board, saying these include starting Thursday classes for weak students and collecting SR30,000 to help poor students.
One parent, Dr. Erfan Hashimi of King Abdul Aziz University, said he wanted to see an atmosphere of stability and security to prevail in the school so that his three children could pursue their education without any hindrance.
