As a result, some jumped off the windows, violating the school’s code of conduct. One student interviewed by Al-Watan newspaper, after being able to escape Sunday morning, said the broken windows and poor air-conditioning in the classrooms had made the school day unbearable and caused him to flee.
The phenomenon of students escaping from school prompted the school administration to create a number of precautions to block them, such as placing sharp parts of glass bottles on the fence or distributing iron cutters on the wall. However, the will of the students and their indifference in violating the rules has proven stronger than these measures.
Al-Watan also reported that some students had to spend their breaks in schoolyards covered with iron rubble and building materials, as workers were engaged in construction work.
Faisal Abdullah Al-Turki, director of school buildings and educational management, confirmed on Saturday that 50 schools of the Department of Education in Madinah were still under maintenance.
All of them had received their students with the beginning of the new academic year without any change in location and dates. He pointed out that only two schools had shut for maintenance and had transferred their students to in evening shifts in other schools belonging to the Department of Education.
Al-Turki noted that this was a temporary measure until completion of the maintenance work, as there had not been enough time to complete maintenance work during the summer vacation.
