RIYADH, 6 April 2005 — The Ministry of Education has denied reports that the managing committee of the Indian International School-Riyadh (IISR) has been dissolved.
“So far the committee has not been dissolved and we will arrive at a decision during the weekend as per the complaints received from a section of the parents,” said Abdul Hadi Al-Sulaiki of the Ministry of Education’s Foreign Education Department. “If the ministry feels that the accusations leveled against the present committee are true, it will decide on a course of action to disband the committee on Saturday.”
In case of dissolution, Sulaiki said the Ministry of Education would issue a notice and appoint a three-member committee to manage the school until new members can be elected at a special general meeting of the parents summoned by the ministry.
“Such a caretaker committee would have members of the school’s administrative staff and parents,” Al-Sulaiki added. The new members will be elected from among the parents who have the required qualifications stipulated by the ministry. Those elected will hold office for three years.
Denying all knowledge of the committee’s dissolution, IISR Principal Manzar Siddiqui said he had received no information from the ministry. He added that the school’s tutorial and administrative staff will carry out their duties regardless of changes.
The allegations against the committee include misappropriation of school funds, use of school’s movable properties such as vehicles, furniture and musical instruments for private purposes, the award of contracts according to the whim and fancy of Managing Committee Chairman Niaz Ahmed Khan, malpractices in the conduct of the last CBSE examination and appointment of teachers and sectional heads ignoring the customary regulations of the institution.
Earlier in a statement to Arab News, Indian Ambassador M.O.H. Farook said the accusation made by a group of parents against the committee had been referred to the Ministry of Education.
There are 10,000 students in the male and female sections of the school along with an administrative and tutorial staff of some 400.
