Irregularities in Indian school denied

The Indian International School Riyadh (IISR) has recently been embroiled in a controversy regarding the functioning of the school.
The school management has however dismissed the allegations as ‘baseless.’
Earlier, a managing committee member of the school, who requested anonymity, said: “The transport department of the school is incurring substantial losses after the Saudi Public Transport Company (SAPTCO) was signed up to take charge of the school’s transportation.”
Currently, the school has a fleet of 59 buses with the SAPTCO charging SR495 per bus which adds up to SR29,205, he said and demanded action as earlier the school buses were operating on a no-profit-no-loss basis.
He also raised concerns regarding a screening test of teachers conducted in the school for promotion to the posts of vice principal and headmaster of the middle and primary sections which revealed that many of them had failed to score the minimum passing mark.
“This is worrying as parents have a lot of expectations from the school and want to have their children supervised by an extraordinary faculty to help them prepare for the highly competitive university and vocational entrance exams in India,” he said.
There was also a rumor circulating about the lobbying between the south and north Indians to get their contender into the top post. To address this, the school’s academic committee recommended that neutral observers be placed in the screening procedures. However, according to sources, this was overlooked and instead regional favoritism took over.
P. Ommer Niaz, chairman of the school managing committee which is the governing body refuted the charges saying, “These allegations are baseless. If anyone has a question, our records are open for perusal.”
Regarding the SAPTCO services he said, “We have just started the services and are in the process of evaluating the benefits and losses. We shall reach an appropriate decision in due course.”
When asked about the teachers’ evaluation in the recently held screening test, he observed that it was a multi-step process which was still under way. “Teachers who failed to achieve the criterion will not be considered for the interview to follow up the screening test for promotion,” he maintained.
Niaz who is in India spoke to Arab News on the phone saying that the management will have a meeting soon to clarify matters and clear the air.
There were also concerns from parents regarding several students who failed to pass in all the subjects in the recently announced class 12 board results. IISR Principal S.M. Shaukat Perwez confirmed that 66 students had failed a subject in the 12th board exams but this was not taken into consideration in the final results as per the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) policy. He added that only one student had failed in the class 10 examinations owing to medical reasons.
He also informed that 487 students scored first class and distinction out of a total of 675 who appeared for the examination.