JEDDAH: Many government school buildings in Jeddah are old and cracking, Al-Madinah newspaper reported on Thursday.
"If the decision makers -- whom we trust are keen about the safety of our children -- do not step in quickly, my kid's school will definitely fall on its students' heads," said Saudi citizen Yousuf Al-Asmari.
Many government schools visited by the newspaper in various parts of Jeddah showed signs of old age and were on the verge of collapsing. The schools were suffering from negligence, there were no repairs or maintenance work being carried out, the lamps were broken and the walls carried obscene graffiti, it reported.
Parent Abu Saud Al-Harbi was unhappy about the condition of his son's school building. He questioned if the school officials and department of education were blind to the state of the school or whether they had noticed but were simply waiting for a disaster to happen.
He said the government paid billions of riyals for education facilities, including school buildings, but good governance was absolutely lacking.
Al-Harbi claimed that when any top official plans to visit schools in any area, they are taken to model schools so they remain unaware about the bad condition of others.
Saleh Al-Almaie said he talked many times to the principals of the two schools where his two sons were studying and was told every time the schools were in good condition, which he disputes.
"Who will listen to us or heed what we say? I hope that the senior officials of the Ministry of Education will visit the old schools to see for themselves the poor condition of their buildings," said Omar Fallatah, another Saudi parent.
Arafat Al-Ammari said it was easy for parents to visit the boy schools and inspect the conditions of the buildings, but this was not so straightforward for girls schools.
Yassin Abdullatif, another Saudi parent, agreed with him and added that many schools were very old and built in crowded areas that are difficult to reach.
Salah Al-Yazidi called for regular inspections of schools to ensure that their buildings are in good condition and do not collapse on their students.
Commenting on the issue, Abdullah Al-Thaqafi, director of the department of education in Jeddah, said a study would not be conducted on the condition of old schools. He said there were periodic inspections and continued maintenance on them.
He, however, noted that the time allowed for maintenance and repair of all schools was very short. "We only have the summer vacation which is from Shaaban 20 to the end of Ramadan," he said.
Al-Thaqafi said the Civil Defense conducts regular tours of the buildings of government and private schools to determine their safety and suitability.
© Arab News 2011
