JEDDAH – The Indian Consulate General is committed to maintaining the quality of education of International Indian School, Jeddah (IISJ), at any cost, according to Consul General Mohammed Noor Rahman Sheikh. Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Sheikh, who is also vice patron of international Indian schools in the Kingdom, said that necessary interventions will be made to address the concerns raised by some parents immediately after overcoming the current crisis arising out of the coronavirus pandemic in the Kingdom. Sheikh said that the Indian community schools are functioning in a very systematic way under the observation and supervision of ambassador, consul general, observers, higher board and managing committees, while strictly following all the rules and regulations of the Ministry of Education. “We will do everything possible to maintain the qualitative leap and academic excellence achieved by IISJ, thanks to the strenuous and dedicated team work of school officials and teachers. We will discuss and address if there is any problem or concern of parents and teachers immediately after overcoming the current situation caused by coronavirus,” he said, adding that the school observer is closely following all the developments in school and taking necessary measures to address them. For her part, Consul and School Observer Hamna Mariyam Khan told Saudi Gazette that “the higher board of Indian schools in the Kingdom is generally looking into academic matters of the school but in the current situation, I am also looking into it, even though the role of an observer is that of an overseeing one. Virtual classes have already started for 10 and 12 grades and for other grades, classes will be rolled out this week itself,” she said, while noting that teachers are highly interested to conduct classes remotely and have prepared very good study materials. “I have gone through some of these materials and found them to be really very good.” Hamna said that the results of all classes were published on Sunday. “Normally, there is a procedure of disbursing results to students after ensuring the payment of tuition fees. But there was some delay in the payment of fees due to coronavirus-related restrictions and this eventually resulted in the delay in publishing the results,” she said noting that the expansion of online mechanism has enabled parents to make online payment of fee prior to outing the results. “We will strive our best to push the school further in its academic advancement,” she added. The Consul General and the School Observer made these comments after Saudi Gazette drew their attention to the memorandum presented to CG by Indian School Parents Forum (ISPAF) pertaining to the current situation at IISJ. The Forum noted that the delay in publishing annual exam results had put the parents and students in an embarrassing situation. ISPAF also expressed concern over the delay in starting the new academic year with beginning of virtual classes. ISPAF President Eng. Mohammed Baiju and General Secretary Dr. Mohamed Faisal C.K. also sought the intervention of the Consul General to stop some negative tendencies being reported from the prestigious community school, saying that these may demoralize the sincere and dedicated teaching staff. They also made an appeal to reconsider the decision to demote Noufal Palakkoth, headmaster of 9-12 Block at the Boys’ Section, after taking into account of his 19-year-long dedicated hard work and in view of the shortage of experienced and qualified teachers in senior sections. Disciplinary action was taken against Palakkoth after an enquiry committee faulted him for allotting periods to teachers for a non-existent division. As per the disciplinary action, approved by the Higher Board and the School Observer, he was demoted to work as a teacher at the lower block of 6-8 classes effective from April 2. Palakkoth had been headmaster for nine years after serving as teacher of biology for another 10 years. Along with former Principal Syed Masood Ahmed, he had been among those at the helm of the school academic staff who were instrumental in producing excellent results in both curricular and co-curricular realms.