School principal suspends classes over safety concerns

The principal of an all girls school in southern Jeddah took the decision on her own to suspend classes in the school, due to safety concerns. The principal was quoted to have said, “knowledge can wait, but souls can’t.”
Al-Watan Newspaper reported that the school suffered from repeated power cuts due to an electricity overload, since the beginning of this year.
Khayriah, the school principal, told the newspaper that she informed the educational administration about the power cuts, and they in turn requested the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to solve the problem. However, the latter kept sending technicians but they could not figure the problem, according to Khayriah.
“They advised me to reduce the electricity load and close the upper floors to avoid the power cuts, and requested that I gather the students and keep them in the ground floor,” Khayriah added.
Moreover, the SEC told Khayriah that the landlord should change the building’s old cables, and the Ministry of Education must force him to do so.
The school building is leased by the Ministry of Education and has more than 280 students, in addition to 51 staff members.
Khayriah said she closed the school on her own initiative, out of a sense of responsibility, to protect the students’ lives.
“Many staff members and students, especially the sick ones couldn’t handle the heat without air condition in the classrooms,” she added.
The Educational Administration in Jeddah said that it had asked the landlord many times to change his building cables but he never responded.
An official at SEC, requesting anonymity, told the newspaper that most of the rented schools in southern Jeddah suffer from old electricity extensions, not just this particular school.