JUBAIL, 17 June 2003 — The Directorate of Foreign Schools at the Ministry of Education has asked all foreign schools to complete their managing committee elections before June 30.
The result of the instruction has been difficult for the schools as many of them are busy in their examination schedule and are also preparing for the summer vacation, and now they have to add elections to their tight schedule.
Such haste in election has also led to controversies among the students and parents of several foreign community schools.
One such school is the International Indian School in Jubail where elections are slated for June 27. The school is closing for summer break from June 28 and examinations are finishing on June 21.
Many parents allege that the Indian Embassy has chosen these dates in order to have minimum polling and retain committee members of its own choice. These parents say that most of the parents will leave for India once examinations are over. They say that the last date for nomination is June 21 and the last date for withdrawal June 24. The final list of the candidates will be announced on June 25 and then elections will be on June 27.
The school is officially closed for the summer break from June 28. But traditionally most of the parents leave for home just after examinations to add a few more days to their annual vacation.
P.U. Shaji, a parent working for SCECO, said that the date for election was not convenient and apparently was fixed to minimize the number of parents voting. Sixty percent of parents are scheduled to leave on vacation on June 25, the weekend date of school closing.
The parent community has alleged that the present managing committee, the school management and the Indian Embassy officials were doing this with ulterior motives to retain the management of the school and control the funds.
Zikrur Rahman, first secretary at the Indian Embassy and in charge of schools, denied these allegations and said that the embassy was following the instructions of the Ministry of Education. He said elections were held recently in Tabuk and the same process was being followed for Taif school.
Rahman said that the elections could not be held earlier because it would have affected children’s exam preparation. “And we have to complete the election process by June 30 in any case,” he added.
“If some parents feel that it is a move to elect a committee of its own choice, then why not defeat this move and participate in elections?” He said very few parents would leave before June 27 and expressed his hope that even those few would delay their departure by a day or two.
