JEDDAH, 7 January 2005 — Parents of International Indian School-Jeddah will have a major say in the election of candidates to its managing committee, which will be held after two months. The parents will also help short-list candidates.
Candidates interested in nominating themselves for the election must hold a bachelor’s degree and belong to any one of the recognized professions. They should also present their credentials at a meeting of parents and spell out their plans for enhancing the academic and co-curricular activities of the school, and personality development of children.
“These are among the guidelines being set by the school patron (Ambassador M.O.H. Farook),” Indian Consul General Dr. Ausaf Sayeed told a meeting of India Forum at the consulate last night.
“This means parents will have a greater say in the matter of electing their representatives to manage the school,” he said, adding that the present three-member ad-hoc committee that has replaced the elected representatives following their resignation recently, will continue until the election which will be held soon after Haj operation ends.
“Transparency will be the hallmark of the election that will also be free and fair,” the consul general said.
Dr. Sayeed said India Forum, which collected cash contribution for the tsunami victims back home at the annual day function, would in future be made “more meaningful” from the points of view of parent-members and their children. “We’re going to elect the forum’s new executive members after a month. We’ll also be creating a separate website for the forum that will continuously update its various activities throughout the year,” said the consul general who is also the forum’s patron, with Ashok Kumar, consul (commercial), as its director.
“The forum will be representative of the whole of India and its different regions and languages will be properly represented,” Dr. Sayeed said, adding that the forum will host many more programs of social, cultural and economic importance. There will also be a woman coordinator from among the spouses of members to chalk out and conduct programs of interest to them. “There will be occasional visits of prominent Indians from different walks of life to be hosted by the forum,” he said.
The consul general also made the community aware of the stricter security that was being enforced at the consulate. “Security is already strict, but it will be stricter still. Bags and belongings of visitors will be subject to strict checks, in addition to personal checks,” he said.
Forum Director Ashok Kumar welcomed Dr. Sayeed and President Shakeel Sultan gave the annual address. Farah Sayeed distributed certificates to outstanding members. Vice Consul Mani Alagappa, Secretary Abdul Malik, T.P. Ahmad, Shariq Ali and Feroz Khan were among the organizers of the function.
