4th campus is our priority, says new IISJ team

Hassan Cheruppa Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Manissarkunnath Mohammed Iqbal, the chairman designate of the newly elected managing committee of International Indian School-Jeddah (IISJ), said removing the hurdles before the much sought after fourth campus of the school will be the first priority of his team. Speaking to Saudi Gazette after the results of elections to the management committee were announced Saturday evening, Iqbal said finding viable solutions to the children’s transportation woes will be another priority. “We will try to further bolster the relations between parents and teachers in our bid to enhance academic excellence. The monthly meeting with parents and regular parenting sessions with active involvement of parents and teachers will be another area of our priorities,” he said. Iqbal, an electrical engineer by profession, works as general manager (technical and marketing) at Gulf Star Security and Safety Systems Co. Parents chose a seven-member managing committee for a three-year term in a hotly contested election with 17 candidates in the fray. However, the polling percentage was sparse with only 1,360 parents out of a total of 6,170 casting ballots. There were 45 invalid votes. IISJ Principal and Chief Election Commissioner Syed Masood Ahmed announced the results after a daylong exercise of voting and counting the ballots. Iqbal, who hails from Kozhikode, Kerala, scored the highest number of votes (776). The other elected members are: Shamsuddeen Kodakkodan (Kerala, 773 votes), Mohammed Asif Rameez Daudi (Bihar,765), Majid Saleem Siddiqi (UP, 718), Chandramohan Velliyaprayil Balan (Maharashtra, 700), Tahir Ali (Karnataka, 587), and Noorul Ameen (Tamil Nadu, 585). Three candidates who secured the largest number of votes next were chosen as reserve members. They are Sheik Khaja Mohideen (Tamil Nadu), Jawed Alam (UP), and Mohammed Abdul Mubeen (Andhra Pradesh). Ahmed said the new committee will meet to elect the chairman after the results were formally approved by the Ministry of Education. “We will follow the precedent of choosing the member who secured the highest number of votes as chairman,” he said. Ahmed said the turnout of voters was poor at 23 percent, but it was “much better” compared to the previous elections in June 2013.” The results were announced in the presence of Faisal Al-Jahdali, observer from the Ministry of Education, and Mohammed Shahid Alam, deputy consul general and the mission’s school observer. Al-Jahdali, who is the supervisor of community schools at the ministry, expressed his happiness over the smooth conduct of the elections. “I congratulate the winners and the election commission, which did a wonderful job of holding elections in a very good and fair manner within a short span of time.” The polling began at 8.30 a.m. and continued until 4.30 p.m. without break at IISJ Boys’ Section in Rehab District. The counting started immediately after the end of voting. According to the school charter, only two members can be elected to the managing committee from a particular Indian state. Abdul Nazar Kallungal Padam, a third candidate from Kerala who came fourth overall winning 737 votes, was not elected to the committee because of this provision.