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Lankan envoy intervenes to settle dispute in school
Sri Lankan Ambassador Ahmed A. Jawad has called for a meeting with a parents group at the embassy premises on Sunday to settle a dispute between the board of management of the Sri Lankan International School in Riyadh and a section of the parents. The meeting will be held at 6.30 p.m.
The aggrieved group of parents is led by A.K.M Ashraff. He will present the grievances of the parents. Ashraff will be accompanied by nine parents selected from among 150 parents who met at the embassy premises two weeks ago.
Currently, the school has more than 1,000 students on its rolls and 65 teachers. Following the submissions of the group of parents on Sunday, the envoy is expected to take them up with the board of management headed by A.L.M. Hashim.
The five-member board was elected by the parents in May 2009 and its tenure is expected to end in May next year. One of the five members has left the country and another member keeps away from the meetings due to personal reasons. It is alleged that the board is being run only by the rest of the three members.
The key issues that are to be discussed include transparency in the activities of the board and the sudden hike in school fees.
“We are prepared for the fee hike but we should know why?” said one parent who wished to remain anonymous. Sources from the group said that it does not have any intention of overthrowing the existing board. “We want to find out how we can help the board run the school effectively,” the group said.
Meanwhile, a circular from the school principal issued this week to the parents stated: “If you fail to pay the tuition fees for the first term on or before Dec. 10, 2011, we may be compelled to keep your child away from attending class.”
Justifying the fee hike, Hashim said that there is a 35 percent increase in the annual rental of the school and also the teachers’ salaries were increased. “We do not want good teachers to leave because of low wages and furthermore general maintenance expenses of the school have also increased which had necessitated the increase in school fees ,” Hashim said.
Sri Lankan Ambassador Ahmed A. Jawad has called for a meeting with a parents group at the embassy premises on Sunday to settle a dispute between the board of management of the Sri Lankan International School in Riyadh and a section of the parents. The meeting will be held at 6.30 p.m.
The aggrieved group of parents is led by A.K.M Ashraff. He will present the grievances of the parents. Ashraff will be accompanied by nine parents selected from among 150 parents who met at the embassy premises two weeks ago.
Currently, the school has more than 1,000 students on its rolls and 65 teachers. Following the submissions of the group of parents on Sunday, the envoy is expected to take them up with the board of management headed by A.L.M. Hashim.
The five-member board was elected by the parents in May 2009 and its tenure is expected to end in May next year. One of the five members has left the country and another member keeps away from the meetings due to personal reasons. It is alleged that the board is being run only by the rest of the three members.
The key issues that are to be discussed include transparency in the activities of the board and the sudden hike in school fees.
“We are prepared for the fee hike but we should know why?” said one parent who wished to remain anonymous. Sources from the group said that it does not have any intention of overthrowing the existing board. “We want to find out how we can help the board run the school effectively,” the group said.
Meanwhile, a circular from the school principal issued this week to the parents stated: “If you fail to pay the tuition fees for the first term on or before Dec. 10, 2011, we may be compelled to keep your child away from attending class.”
Justifying the fee hike, Hashim said that there is a 35 percent increase in the annual rental of the school and also the teachers’ salaries were increased. “We do not want good teachers to leave because of low wages and furthermore general maintenance expenses of the school have also increased which had necessitated the increase in school fees ,” Hashim said.
