The Ministry of Education has stripped a girls' school principal of her post after numerous complaints from staff concerning the running of the school. The move came in response to a report in Okaz newspaper at the beginning of the month quoting staff as saying that the head was guilty of several breaches of regulations including discrimination in her treatment of teaching staff. Teachers also noted in a complaint that failed to prompt a response from the education department in Taif at the time that the principal frequently worked from home and on occasions closed the school without justification. After further persuasion a department official agreed to look into the complaint only on the condition that teachers sign it, threatening action against them if it transpired that their complaints were unjustified. The teachers refused to sign the complaint, citing the lack of an official body to protect them. Following the newspaper report however, the Ministry of Education interviewed the principal and teachers and studied the running of the school, including attendance records. The ministry's conclusions confirmed the veracity of the complaints of the teaching staff. The former principal has now been assigned to teaching duties and a substitute principal will soon be selected from a group of nominated teachers.
