Kuwait City - All Indian schools in Kuwait have unilaterally increased their fees by about 20 to 25 per cent, though the Kuwaiti authorities gave a nod to increase it only by 5 per cent, says the memorandum being addressed to the president of India. It may be recalled that the Indian schools have been berated by parents of students in what they called unauthorized increase in fees and have launched a concerted campaign to roll back the fees. Representatives of a number of Indian organizations together with parents of students held a meeting on Saturday to map out a plan to effectively tackle the fees issue and another meeting will be held on Nov 30.
About 10,000 signatures along with the memorandum will be sent to the President Pratibha Patil to seek her intervention in the matter, even as parents and Indian organizations alike have called for the Indian government to take over the management of the Indian Community School.
A copy of the memo obtained by the Arab Times reads as follows:
The memo says the Indian Embassy wrote to the Ministry of Education, Government of Kuwait to permit the managements of the Indian schools in Kuwait to increase the wages of the teachers in their schools.
This gave the managements a premise to increase the fees unjustifiably and since the letter was written by former ambassador, M. Ganapathy, the parents are honoring the move and are not seeking the withdrawal of the said letter.
Prevent
However, the acting ambassador should write another letter to the Ministry of Education and Government of Kuwait so as to prevent the school managements from increasing the fees any further. In addition, the excess fees levied by the schools during the current academic year should be refunded to the parents.
Currently, the strength of the Indian community in Kuwait has increased to nearly 700,000. Of these 700,000, more than 10 per cent are school-going children. A total of 15 Indian schools are providing education in accordance to the norms laid down by the Indian Central Board of Education.
The Indian Community School was established with the aim of helping the indigent children of Indian parents in Kuwait, who could not afford to send their children to schools in India in those days. The school was financed by donations from the Indian community in Kuwait and later by the revenue of the school.
Subsequent to the liberation of the state of Kuwait from Iraqi invasion, the Kuwaiti sponsor of the school reportedly tried to take over the school. Due to the timely intervention of the Embassy of India in Kuwait and the Government of India, the school administration was restored to a Committee of Indian Expatriates. Part of the funds was lost and the remaining funds were in the custody of the Administration Committee.
The Indian Community School always championed the cause of the indigent Indian parents in Kuwait -- but unfortunately in the recent past, the Indian Community School has taken a lead among other fourteen Indian schools to increase the school fees beyond the capabilities of the majority of parents in these schools.
Managed
The Indian Community School is managed by a committee, which is not accountable to the Indian community. Any time the community raises the subject of accountability of the Indian Community School management with the Embassy of India in Kuwait, the embassy officials wash their hands off, stating that it is not their responsibility to involve in the management affairs. The community believes it is the responsibility of the Government of India to play a role in the management of the Indian Community School, as it did effectively in 1991/92.
The community calls upon the Government of India to appoint a senior officer of Indian Administrative Services to take over the administration of the Indian Community School and be accountable to the Government of India. The present committee is neither transparent nor accountable to anybody. Not only that, they are taking the initiative to increase the school fees, while they are supposed to help the poor Indian expatriate community in Kuwait.
Restructure
The Indian Community School, once taken over by the Government of India, should restructure itself to provide education to the needy at an affordable expenditure, which will encourage other Indian schools to do the same. The reduction of fees means only a marginal reduction in the profits of the management and a reduction of the financial burden of the parents.
As per the laws of the state of Kuwait, all the educational institutions are owned by Kuwaiti citizens -- but it is a fact that the Kuwaiti citizens are giving the sponsorship for a fee for the Indians to run the school. It is a matter of record that the Indian Community School was sponsored by a Kuwaiti gentleman for several years in the beginning without charging any sponsorship fee and even awarding donations to the needy children.
It should be quite possible that even the state of Kuwait can sponsor the Indian Community School, if the Indian government takes over the school. All the 15 schools are not maintaining the standards stipulated by the Central Board of School Education and the Ministry of Education of the Government of Kuwait. The facilities are poor, classes are overcrowded and the standard of teaching is dismal and urgent action is needed to improve the standard of the schools.
By Francis A. Clifford Cardozo
Arab Times 2008
