Jeddah school shut down for ‘disturbing neighbors’

JEDDAH: The Jeddah Education Department closed an international school in Al-Rawdah district for reportedly disturbing its neighbors, as also lacking municipal approval.
The decision comes after a similar order by the Ministry of Education to close a school merely two months ago, which was however re-opened following a judicial ruling.
The fate of hundreds of students, both boys and girls, hanged in balance due to abrupt closure of their school.
Parents have since appealed to competent authorities to take a decision as their wards' future was threatened at the beginning of second semester, a local publication quoted them saying.
An official with the Department of Education, Abdul Majeed Al-Ghamdi, said the municipality has not approved the building because of neighbors' objection.
“The building in Al-Rawdah is a substitute building for the school which previously located in Al-Hamra and which was evacuated because of a judicial ruling. The competent body in the education department is considering alternative solutions to the problem,” he said.
Hajer Al-Halawani, the school’s headmistress, issued a statement and expressed surprise over the closure.
She said the school administration never knew that the neighbors were disturbed by a school and therefore it went ahead leasing the building and paying the rent. Alterations to the building were made to meet the school’s requirements and specifications.
“The Ministry of Education informed us that renting the building was referred to the municipality for further procedures but was halted later after the neighbors submitted a complaint,” she said.
She said her administration has met with the director of private and international education and filed "a complaint stating we were harmed by the decision and that a solution to the problem was urgently needed.”
The school, she said, had not violated any regulations and noted that the old building was evacuated immediately after the administration received a judicial order from the court.
Meanwhile, parents of several girl students went to the girls’ education department in Al-Faisaliah demanding that the officials find an immediate solution to save their children's future.
Mansour Aynouseh, a spokesman for the aggrieved parents, said this was the second time that the school was facing problem, after its closure in Al-Hamra.
“The school administration met with the parents few months ago and asked them to submit suitable alternatives. We responded and agreed on this building in Al-Rawdah though the school is far from our homes,” he explained.
“Before the beginning of the second semester we were surprised when we received messages on Facebook informing us that the opening would be delayed to next Thursday. We received another letter recently confirming that the school was closed and we do not know yet what will happen to our children.”