The quasi-deadly violence at IPSJ

THE INTERNATIONAL Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ) has been wracked with violence virtually from its inception in 1982, when it was opened as the Philippine Embassy School.

With 1,000 students, IPSJ is still the oldest and largest Philippine school in the Middle East. But years of violence between warring factions on the school board, fighting for a share of the financial spoils, have scarred the school perhaps permanently.

In early November, Angelito Lazo, the current chairman of the school's Board of Trustees, was hit by a speeding car outside his house. He was knocked to the ground and briefly hospitalized. Luckily, the injuries he suffered were minor.
Lazo believes it was not an accident, but rather an attempt at harming him for deciding to reduce the number of Arabic language classes at the school from five days a week to once.

He lodged a complaint with the Jeddah police, but until now no suspects have been caught. Now, Lazo has submitted his resignation to the Saudi Ministry of Education, frustrated with his inability to get anything done at the school, especially in view of the fact that he's getting no cooperation from the school's headmistress Ameera Ali.

Arabic classes are still being held on a daily basis because Ali allegedly does not want to fire the excess Arabic teachers who would no longer be needed if Arabic were taught only once a week.

The Ministry of Education has not decided yet whether they will accept Lazo's resignation, but a ministry official told Arab News this week that the Saudi government was seriously considering closing the school temporarily to shake up its management and put things into order.

Several weeks ago three high school students were caught in the act by security guards trying to burn down one of IPSJ's buildings. Their punishment? Expulsion from the school would have been the logical outcome, but instead they were suspended for only one week! Many parents were upset with this, saying the punishment was far too little.
Another attempt at arson occurred the following week, but no suspects were apprehended.

The school is also facing financial difficulties, delaying the salaries of teachers and staff. Only 60 percent of the students pay full tuition (around 4,500 Saudi real a year, or P67,500), with the remaining 40 percent receiving tuition rebates for being dependents of consulate or school staff.

The continuing violence, instability and tension have caused many parents and teachers to leave the school. According to reliable sources, four teachers have left the school and three more are planning to leave.

Now to the good points of the school -- most parents agree that the standard of education at IPSJ is still higher than at the breakaway Philippine schools, such as Hekma International School and Bader International School. Indeed, last year, 10 IPSJ students passed the University of the Philippines (UP) entrance exam, while only three from Hekma and one from Bader passed the same test. To be fair to Hekma and Bader, a lower proportion of their students took the UP exam, so that may partially account for their lower passing numbers.

But the parents of IPSJ students are becoming increasingly frustrated with the violence at the school, which has led to an administrative deadlock where hardly anything gets done properly. They complain that too many school officials view the school as an employment agency for their relatives, who more often than not are not qualified and don't even have legal residency in Saudi Arabia.

The IPSJ has a long history of nepotism and corruption. People were hired as security guards, teachers or office workers just because they were related to someone running the school, not because they were really qualified for the job.

Board members were until this year paid hefty honorarium fees by the school, a practice that the education ministry scrapped in an attempt at diminishing corruption at the school. The ministry also required the school to institute a regulation that said no board member could be related to anyone working at the school, either by blood or marriage.
"Many parents would like the Ministry of Education to close the school temporarily," one disgruntled parent told me. But the ministry is afraid that closing the school would harm the education of the students the most, something the ministry is loath to do.

It's ridiculous that the IPSJ has been taken over by thugs and goons who think that violence and arson are the only ways of settling disputes. All honest parents should remove their children from the school and let the goons sink in a quagmire of their own making.

Comments or questions? E-mail the author at rasheed@arabnews.com