The standoff between teachers of the International Indian School, Riyadh and its management over a pay-scale revision continues, as the managing committee pleaded for time to present the proposal for the approval of the Higher Board during a meeting on June 26 in Taif. By boycotting classes on Monday, teachers have already demonstrated their ‘no looking back' stand on the issue. Now they say if the MC does not come up with a definite answer, they will go even further and boycott the two-day Food and Funfair event scheduled for June 18 and 19. However, the teachers' decision to boycott the Food and Funfair, a social event that the IISR organizes every year to raise funds for financially-strapped parents, was seen as a pressure tactic. Teachers have already refused to accept the responsibility of selling Food and Funfair entrance tickets, which they usually do every year by selling them through students to their parents and other community members. A. Imthias, MC Chairman, said it would not be possible for him to commit to any salary increment unless a proposal was made and approved by the Higher Board. In fact, the MC has been working on the proposals received from various quarters including the teachers, he said. He said some of the teachers even proposed an increase in the tuition fee, if that is the only solution available for a pay-hike. He said that the MC was able to take some on-the-spot decisions, such as, announcing the “Employees Welfare Fund”, allowing teachers to encash accumulated casual leave, and over-time payment for teachers who report on duty on their weekly days off and those that take classes as substitute teachers. Imthias said that he also must get approval from the Higher Board on the issue of the school bearing the cost of exit and re-entry for the school staff. However, teachers considered the offers to be sops meant to get them to compromise on the major issue of a pay-scale revision. “The teachers' refusal to participate in the Food and Funfair event is a sad decision,” Imthias said, adding that unlike SR7 paid earlier as remuneration for dinner, he would be ready to offer a full day's salary for those teachers who report for duty on those days. He said without the teachers' participation, it would be unlikely that the event would be a success. If teachers were adamant on their demand, there would be no alternative but to postpone the event, he added. Monday's meeting between the MC and teachers was seen as a turning point, as the teachers - both male and female –showed their defiance by turning up in full numbers for the first time in the history of IISR. MC members Shah Ghulam Subhani, Badran Menon and Dr. Mohana, Principal M.J. Siddiqui and R.N.Vats, 2nd Secretary, Indian Embassy, who acts as an observer of Indian community schools in the Kingdom, also attended the meeting that went on for more than two hours. The meeting between the MC and around 400 teachers held at the school's auditorium to iron out the differences ended in an impasse. At one stage the meeting erupted into a shouting match when the teachers expressed their anger after one of the officials on the dais made unpleasant comments saying that “the teachers were acting like laborers.” The teachers continued shouting until the official was forced to apologize. The teachers were given time to come to the podium and express their grievances, which included discrimination, favoritism and regionalism with the most dominant one being the demand for a long-pending pay-scale revision. The teachers in unequivocal terms demanded to see at least a 25 percent to 30 percent increase in their basic salaries. The principal and the recently recruited vice-principal were targeted for their high-handedness in dealing with teachers' issues. The increasing reports of indiscipline among students and now unrest among teachers are indications that management is no longer in control of the situation. Responding to this, Imthias tried to downplay the situation saying that teachers have acted out of frustration and that “there is no issue at the school so large that cannot be resolved.” He said the only thing required is sitting together and negotiating. “We all know that IISR is a community school, which runs on the basis of no loss, no profit. Even the teachers are parents since their children are enrolled at the school,” he said. Imthias also dismissed teachers concerns that if they speak in forums such as Monday's meeting, they will be targeted by management, harassed and sent back home. “How can we target teachers when we do not even know the teachers who spoke at the meeting by their names?” he asked.
