A PRIVATE school will permanently shut its gates this week after the Education Ministry revoked its permit.
Around 50 employees from Al Salam Private School have received termination letters, informing them that the last day for administrative staff will be Thursday while faculty members already packed their bags last Saturday.
Parents of around 300 students were informed through text message in April that registration for the new academic year was suspended, but at the time did not give out further details.
The GDN reported last month that the school was facing accusations of non-payment of wages and pending payments to the Jaffari Waqf (Endowment) Directorate, which owns the campus in Al Qaraya.
The directorate has won a court case against the school, forcing an eviction through the Execution Court.
The school could not be reached for a comment yesterday and accessing its website showed a “forbidden” message, despite its social media accounts still being active.
However, area councillor Fatema Al Qatari, who has two children enrolled in the school, said she was personally involved in ensuring all the students were accepted in other private and government schools.
“What the school did is haram and shows a clear disregard to welfare of our children and employees,” she told the GDN yesterday.
“It all started with lies last year that the school was in a strong situation despite a late payments case against it from the Jaffari Directorate, and the owners assured us, including me, that everything was under control.
“As an influential public figure, before being a parent, I convinced other parents in grade two and three, where my son and daughter study, to stay on and that things were fine.
“I am really frustrated and embarrassed because other parents started blaming me for the misery of looking for other schools after receiving messages in April that registration for the new academic year was suspended.
“From there, I led a campaign against the administration and informed area MP Jalal Kadhim, who last year moved his children out of the school because he didn’t trust the management, and we started getting students accepted anywhere to avoid them losing out on an entire year.”
An administrator, who spoke to the GDN on the condition of anonymity, said the school pledged payments would be made to staff through the Labour and Social Development Ministry, but did not specify a timeline.
“We are in a tough situation for months without pay and teachers have been laid off, while we continue to work until Thursday to clear things up,” said the staff member.
“However, there has been nothing about the pending wages, and we are worried. Someone has to intervene and serve us justice.”
Officials from the Education Ministry were unavailable for a comment yesterday.
mohammed@gdn.com.bh
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