Rajagiri school to continue under same management

There will not be any immediate changes in the management of the Rajagiri International School, education officials have assured parents following Saturday's chaotic events. The Educational Permit owner of Rajagiri school has assured that there will not be any changes in the management of the school, the curriculum, the quality of education delivered, the day-to-day running of the school or any other element that could jeopardise the future of the students, Mohammad Darwish, Chief of Regulations and Compliance Commission at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), said yesterday. KHDA had met with the owner yesterday after receiving petitions from concerned parents. As Gulf News reported earlier, hundreds of parents had called on authorities to resolve a crisis that has hit the school, located in Al Warqa here, and attended by nearly 1,070 pupils. According to parents, the owner of the school building and permit sold the school to another group to run, without the knowledge of the management, and this move in the middle of the academic year has jeopardised the quality of education imparted to the pupils. Meanwhile, sources close to the owner said that another group was brought in to manage the school after those who were running the school defaulted on their payments to him and the owner had obtained a court verdict allowing him to sell the property. Construction dialogue "After reviewing all the documents submitted, the owner has confirmed and assured the Authority that it will be business as usual at the school," Darwish said. "KHDA will closely monitor all the happenings at the school and will not allow any course of action that will compromise the education delivered at the school. "Any changes proposed will have to be in line with the current regulations and guidelines." The school has also confirmed that some senior members of the school team may choose not to continue with the school and have assured replacements at the earliest with the necessary KHDA approvals. KHDA expects the parents to engage in a constructive and open dialogue with the school to address any issues that may affect the progress of their wards at the school, he added. Members of KHDA's compliance team will be visiting the school to ensure that all is in order at the school. Ahmad Mohammad Al Jafla, the owner of the school, said that he is working towards ensuring the best interests of the students and parents are protected. ‘Satisfactory manner' "We all hold the interests of the students as of paramount importance and we will work to ensure that everything is resolved in a satisfactory manner," he said, following the meeting with KHDA. "Parents as well as the current management were shocked to learn that the school has been sold to a new group. A circular said that due to some fiscal problems, the school management has been handed over from Rajagiri to the new group. This created a lot of doubts and uncertainty," a parent had said on Saturday. Since the management change will not happen now, the status of the new group which has entered into an alliance with the school, is unclear.