Amjad Parkar

Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH — The interim committee of a community school in Jeddah has strongly refuted a newspaper advertisement claiming the principal it had hired had been sacked.



The advert, which appeared in a Saudi daily on Sunday, said Marina Hitchen as well as physical education teacher Ahmed Abdalla had been terminated from the British and Dutch International School, better known as Jeddah Prep and Grammar, and that they should not be contacted regarding school matters.



It also said anyone who had any claims against the pair should contact Mahdhar Al-Aidrous, whom the interim committee said had never been hired as head of HR at the school despite the advert claiming so.



A spokesperson from the school’s interim committee told Saudi Gazette: “What was announced in the newspaper concerning the termination of employees Marina Hitchen and Ahmed Abdalla is false and under no circumstances is Mahdhar Al-Aidrous, who claims to be head of human resources, an employee or represents the school in any form. “The school further advises that it will not be responsible for any communication with Mahdhar Al-Aidrous.”



Al-Aidrous refused to answer any questions on the issue from Saudi Gazette. He, along with his father Omar and former principal Arshad I. Ashraf, previously claimed to still be employed by Jeddah Prep in positions of significant authority.



Omar, in particular, was a lawyer appointed by Ashraf with power of attorney over the school.



However, the interim committee spokesperson said the trio, as well as Mahdhar’s brothers Salim and Fahad, were not employees.



The publication of the advert is the latest in a series of alleged distortions by the previous administration to destablize the school.



In an earlier Saudi Gazette report, the interim committee said legal cases brought against the school by at least one of the Al-Aidrous members were responsible for stopping the school from processing iqama paperwork for its teachers.



However, those issues were understood to have been resolved with labor authorities.



Omar Al-Aidrous, however, said the interim committee was illegal according to Ministry of Education directives he sent to Saudi Gazette because it did not have members who were either British or Dutch.



The interim committee refuted this allegation, claiming it does not represent a board and its role and responsibilities are managerial in nature. It said the election of a board of governors is one of its goals after the school is stable.



Saudi Gazette was also shown an e-mail from Ashraf stating in June that he had resigned from the school.



Al-Aidrous disputed this and provided a letter dated September that stated Ashraf was actually on vacation.



The school has also been suffering from several other problems affecting its day-to-day running, but the interim committee said it wanted to reassure students, parents and teachers that it was working hard to resolve them.