MUSCAT – A group of concerned Indian school parents in Oman convened a face-to-face meeting with the school’s Board of Directors to address a range of pressing issues affecting the academic environment. This meeting follows the submission of a memorandum by the parents’ body to both the Board and the Indian Ambassador in Oman, outlining serious concerns within the school.

A statement issued by the parents to highlight these concerns reads as follows: “Indian schools in Oman have been facing a number of problems in the academic field for quite some time now. The lack of teachers for many subjects and uncontrolled private tuitions has severely affected academic quality. Earlier, parents had organised a strong protest over the insurance policy in Indian schools being given to a private company in violation of school rules. The insurance contract, which took place irregularly without inviting a tender, was subsequently cancelled.

“The parents had earlier requested the board chairman several times in the past, through a memorandum, to convene the suspended school ‘Open Forum’ immediately to discuss various grievances raised among the parents regarding the functioning of the school. However, the school authorities are yet to call an open forum.”

As per the statement, the parents engaged in a direct dialogue during the school board meeting, highlighting repeated failed assurances given to them. Academic challenges, such as a shortage of teachers for various subjects and unregulated private tuition impacting academic quality, were among the issues raised.

Previous protests by parents led to the cancellation of an irregularly awarded insurance policy to a private company, which had violated school rules.

Transparency concerns regarding the selection of the School Management Committee (SMC) were also voiced by parents, alleging that the process favoured some board members who had vested interests and even included individuals not currently residing in Oman.

In response, the Board Chairman, Sivakumar Manickam, and other board members assured the parents that an open forum would be called shortly and also committed to addressing concerns, including those related to SMC selections, during the board meeting.

The chairman announced a subsequent discussion with parents’ representatives scheduled, emphasizing the commitment to resolving the raised issues.

The parents’ collective, led by K V Vijayan, Dinesh Babu, Sugathan, K Sandeep, Mithun Mohan, and V M Arun, expressed their appreciation for the assurance of a parents’ forum and expressed hope hoped that the concerns raised by the parents on issues including the SMC selections would be resolved in the discussions.