JEDDAH: Seventeen candidates are competing for a seat on the seven-member Managing Committee of the International Indian School in Jeddah (IISJ).

The elections are to be held on Saturday, May 28. The speed with which the election process is being rushed through has taken everyone by surprise. The list of approved candidates was made public on the school’s website on Tuesday evening, leaving only three days for the candidates to appeal to the voters — parents of children studying at the school.

The IISJ, with more than 12,000 students and a 100 percent academic success rate, is the community’s most popular school, and getting admission into its boys and girls sections is very tough. Both sections of the school are bursting at the seams.

The IISJ is affiliated to India’s Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and has been in operation for more than 35 years. The previous Managing Committee was led by Chairman Mohammed Abdul Raziq.

The 17 candidates are Mohammed Abdul Mubeen (Andhra Pradesh), Mohammed Asif Rameez Daudi (Bihar), Shah Himanshu Suresh Chandra (Gujarat), Tahir Ali (Karnataka), Mohammed Iqbal Manissarkunnath (Kerala), Abdul Nazar Kallungal Padam (Kerala), Abdul Raihman Chettiyarmala (Kerala), Siraj Muhammad Aboobacker (Kerala), Shamsuddeen Kodakkodan (Kerala), Shabeeb Pattar Kadavan (Kerala), Chandra Mohan Velliyaprayil Balan (Maharashtra), Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Yusuf (Tamil Nadu), Noorul Ameen (Tamil Nadu), Shaikh Khaja Mohideen (Tamil Nadu), Majid Saleem Siddiqi (Uttar Pradesh), Ataur Rahman (Uttar Pradesh) and Jawed Alam (Uttar Pradesh).

The nomination forms of seven applicants were rejected because they were members of the managing committee in the past. “They can only be considered after the completion of two tenures,” said a note from the school.

A short video of candidates and their programs will be uploaded on the school’s website (http://www.iisjed.com) for the parents on Wednesday.