April 30, 2008
To: The ISG Community
From: Norma Hudson, ISG Superintendent
Subject: Update on the Ministry of Education’s Directive About Student Enrollment
Greetings:
Recently ISG and other Foreign Education schools throughout the Kingdom received a letter from the Ministry of Education, Department of Private and Foreign Education which stated that:“… we hope that students who do not belong to the same community will not be allowed to attend our schools until pre-approval is obtained.”Note that the letter mentions “community” and at this writing that word is translated from Arabic to mean “nationality”. Since it is difficult to find community schools for all nationalities in the Kingdom, the Ministry of Education is clarifying its intent for students who cannot easily find a community school.
It is our understanding that the referenced directive does not affect current students who have received Muslim approval and are attending ISG. Students needing annual Muslim approval may be affected. The directive is currently being focused at new students because there is a desire to have more students attend schools operated under the ownership of local citizens.
We have been an international school district with an international staff and international students since 1962. For almost 50 years, the Ministry and ISG have had a successful relationship. We have worked with and supported each other. The Ministry of Education approved our name as International Schools Group several years ago. ISG has remained a not-for-profit school district and has served the Kingdom as needed to provide education to the children of men and women who have come to the Kingdom to help.
At this point the full implications of the Ministry’s letter and referenced directive are unknown. Our Assistant Superintendent of Government Relations, Rashed Al-Doulab, has diligently been working with the Ministry of Education to seek clarity on this letter.
My letter is for your information and is not to be used as a catalyst for action to the Ministry of Education by parents. My personal goal is to be respectful and considerate to everyone as we work together with the Ministry and other appropriate Government agencies by using suitable protocols.
I thank you for your time and interest. If you get new information, I would appreciate it if you would share it through your school administrators. Your patience and understanding are needed and I will continue to keep you informed.
Respectfully,
Norma Hudson
ISG Superintendent
Origin:http://www.isgyis.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment