IGNOU gets License, But Still Can't Hold Classes
JEDDAH: The International Indian School Jeddah (IISJ) will no longer have an elected managing committee, or a managing committee at all for that matter, according to statements made by Indian Embassy officials Wednesday.
In line with the Saudi Ministry of Education's amended rules, the Indian Consulate General sent a list of 10 Indian parents to Indian Ambassador M.O.H. Farook, who is the patron of Indian mission schools.The patron will pick and choose seven members and forward the list to the Ministry of Education for final approval.
The Saudi Ministry of Education's amended rules offer embassies the option to either nominate their choice of candidates or allow parents to elect a management committee.
"There will no longer be a managing committee, but an advisory panel of seven members selected by the patron," Indian Consul General Ausaf Sayeed said.
Addressing the press, he said that the decision to appoint an advisory committee was taken considering the mismanagement and huge financial deficit of the International Indian School in Jeddah.
He said that in March 2004, the deficit was SR2.7 million, when an elected managing committee was running the school. But it was brought down to SR758,000 in 2005 and then to SR640,000 this year.
The reserve was SR11 million in March 2004, But now it has gone up to SR19.2 million.
Dr. Sayeed said that he has recommended that the chairman of the advisory committee be rotated.
He said that Indian consulate followed the ministry guidelines and decided to select members for the two-year advisory committee. The members, in turn, will have to follow the ministry's six-seven conditions of not visiting the school during school hours, not interacting with teachers.
IGNOU
Ateico Communications, which represents the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), an Indian government's distance learning institution, which was closed down by the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education earlier this year, has been given a one-year renewable license to operate as a promoter of IGNOU.
The license does not allow Ateico Communications to hold counseling sessions or classes for students.
The Indian Consul General said that a mechanism is being worked out to allow some other agencies to hold classes. But nothing has been finalized yet.
IGNOU exams, as usual, will be conducted by the Indian consulate, he said.
The Ministry of Higher Education closed down IGNOU's branch here because Atieco Communications did not have a permit to run an educational institute, said Abdulaziz Al-Shoebi, director general of the department of university qualification certificate at the Ministry of Higher Education.
However, there is good news for Indian housewives and girls. A high-level delegation from the Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) led by its vice-chancellor Professor A.M. Pathan is visiting Jeddah from Sept. 11-17 to explore the possibility of holding examinations of distance programs in Jeddah starting from this academic year.
Indian students here will have to pay the same tuition fee as their counterparts in India pay for MANUU courses, Ausaf Sayeed said.
News Feed
Sayeed also launched Wednesday a CGI news feed, a dynamic news bulletin of the consulate general of India, Jeddah.
Claiming to be the first by any mission here, the consul general said that the RSS (Remote Sensing Society) news feed can be had on the browser or free RSS reader.
The news feed covers news relating to Haj, consular, community welfare and commercial services.
It would also give details of the visits of the important in-coming and outgoing delegations, forthcoming socio-cultural and business events.
The news feed will be either linked to a page with full details or will have the contact e-mail and telephone numbers of the people concerned for more information, the consul general said.
He also announced the launch of contact programs with Indian community members outside Jeddah. The first interaction will take place in Taif on Sept. 22, he said.
Sayeed said that Makkah has been included in the consular tours, which will now have representatives from the welfare wing. The frequency of consular visit to Madina has been increased to once a month.
The consulate has also started a Thursday Service. The service from 2 P.M. to 5 P.M. will be open for visitors from outside Jeddah.
The consul general also announced a two-day Asian Cultural Festival being organized by the Asian Consuls General Club (ACGC) on Oct. 27-28 at the International Indian School in Jeddah under the patronage of the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
By Shams Ahsan
© The Saudi Gazette 2006
