RIYADH, 28 August 2004 — It’s back to school today for most of the students of international community schools in the Kingdom.
Weekend flights from Asian destinations such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka came to Riyadh airport with full load of passengers including families with children and schoolteachers to be in time for the school re-opening.
Most of the bookshops were crowded with parents purchasing their children’s stationery requirements. Supermarkets and hypermarkets have come out with “back to school” promotions for school bags, shoes and stationery.
Foreign airlines said the incoming flights to Riyadh are overbooked because of the school rush. “It is not only the families but also domestic aides and house drivers who are returning to their work places,” a spokesman for a foreign airline told Arab News. A travel agent said incoming flights are full till Sept. 15.
“Everything is set for the school re-opening on Saturday. We have recruited some new teachers to fill the vacancies created by the teachers who left at the end of last term,” Superintendent of the Bangladesh International School Rezaur Rahman told Arab News. The school has 750 students on its rolls.
The Sri Lankan International School in Riyadh will start off without a replacement of the principal who resigned at the end of the last academic year.
Sources said the school’s board of management had already selected a principal and a few teachers and that their visas are being processed. Some 450 students are on its rolls.
The Indian International School, which re-opened last Saturday, has given a new look to some of its buildings. Chairman of the School Management Board Niaz Ahmed Khan said that the school has recruited 11 more teachers and a vice principal to join the 540 existing staff. It has 9,200 students on its rolls.
Elaborate arrangements are being made by the school to honor the teachers who have served the institution for more than 10 years. They will be honored at the Teachers’ Day on Sept. 4 for their services rendered to the institution,” Khan said .
Yara International School re-opened last Sunday will be closed today on account of the ‘Onam’ festival while, the Pakistani International School is slated to begin its new academic year from Sept. 4. The other international schools in Riyadh are scheduled to open next week.
