Daijiworld Media Network

Riyadh, Aug 31: As the indefinite closure of Taqwa International School (TIS) continues to exist even after four months of its shutdown, the future of more than one thousand students seems to be almost  in a dilemma.

TIS, which is based on the Indian CBSE-affiliated system in Riyadh, was launched in April 2007 to cater to the educational needs of the Indian community in the capital city of Saudi Arabia. The school remained closed since April 4 without giving a hope of reopening and keeping the students and parents together in quandary.

The hopeless and elusive responses by its principal and the school management have also escalated the apprehension mounted amongst the students and their parents. There are a lot of Indian and non-Indian expatriate students studying in the school.

It is said that the school was ordered to be closed due to the management’s failure to comply with the legal and administrative requirements of the Ministry of Education (MoE) and local municipal authority (Baladiya).

It may be recalled about the news posted in Daijiworld in 2011 regarding the closure of the School for more than one month during the shifting of its old building in April-May 2011 to the present premises and the failure of the management to obey the requirements of the ministry.

Though the present school building was apparently large, yet it lacked many infrastructures to be conducive for the school atmosphere. It looked as if the school management has not heeded to the directions of the Ministry at the cost of the future of the students, who have been suffering since more than four months.

After a short vacation soon after the final examinations held in the early of March 2012, the school restarted with the new academic session for 2012-2013.

Even the new admissions were done and fees were also collected for the next session of the academic year. However, the parents were notified by text messages on April 3, 2012 by the School that the classes would be temporarily suspended from April 4 as certain formalities were still not completed and requested the parents’ understanding in that regard.

According to a reliable source, the authorities visited the school frequently during the class hours as they were continuously insisting the management to get all the required formalities done. However, it is said that the management snubbed their directions despite their repeated instructions. 

Many parents expressed their utter grievances with Daijiworld that the management were fully aware of the dire consequence of the non-compliance; yet they played with the future of around thousands students for their commercial purpose without giving any clue of the shutdown; we could have done alternative in the beginning itself if we had any hint about the closure.

It was really regrettable for the parents and students altogether. Since it is the mid of academic year to get them admitted to other schools in the city; we are receiving the text messages occasionally from the school, but without any hope ” they said.

Some have expressed their agitation even planning to approach the appropriate authorities against the school management for the damage they have done to their children’s future.  It is also learnt that there are some internal politics, which are being played a big role in getting the clearances from the MoE. 

While some parents had already removed their children from TIS and got admitted to other schools in Riyadh because of its bad track record, the majority of the students and parents waited until the end of the summer vacation with the hope of its reopening so that the students would not be disturbed because of their exposure to new school as well as already completed syllabus.

However, there is still no any indication of reopening. Presently, no one is available to be contacted or to receive the calls in the school.

Daijiworld came to know that many parents are very upset and disturbed from the current situation that resulted from the closure. The first session of academic year of other schools was already completed.

The younger students are experiencing the holidays continually staying at home, even forgetting their basic letters and subjects they learnt.  The parents are still in difficult situation on whether to remove their children from TIS, if removed, whether they will receive admissions in other schools.

It is also informed that the present scenario will continue to exist even for more than 2-3 months. It shows that the school is going to be closed permanently for this academic year.

The text messages are not effective to reduce the anxieties and tensions that encircled the minds of students and parents. Moreover, the last text messages they received from the school were bleak about the reopening of the school.      

It was a wrong decision on behalf of the management that it had shifted its previous campus without taking the essential ground-works that needed to start the new school premises.

They should have been aware of the required formalities before moving from one place to another place. The parents cannot think that management was totally oblivious about the prerequisites, which required to be complied in order to set out the premises.

The questions that remain unanswered are how the school management could be irresponsible and careless about the future of thousands of students and why has the school not informed to the parents at the start itself about the imminent closure of the classes.

They cannot say that they did not know anything about the situation as they knew it well in advance. The management has to take responsibility of the future and has to heavily pay for it.