By Hassan Cheruppa

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia and patron of international Indian schools in the Kingdom, announced on Monday a series of measures aimed at easing the burden of parents in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the Kingdom.

As part of the relief package, all subsidiary and supplementary fees other than tuition fee have been waived, while allowing all students to attend virtual classes irrespective of fee payment for a period up to June 1.

The relief measures also stipulate that there will be no retrenchment of school employees or salary cut during the period, according to a statement made by the ambassador.

There are 45,000 students at 10 international Indian schools across the Kingdom. Many parents of the schools sought the intervention of the higher school authorities for a waiver for some of the fees considering the economic impact of coronavirus.

A virtual session of the Higher Board of Indian Schools was held on Saturday to discuss the entire scenario.

“The new decisions were taken after examining the prevailing situation, unusual circumstances and based on recommendations of the Higher Board, Managing Committees and internal deliberations,” Dr. Sayeed said while emphasizing that all schools have been advised to make a school outreach and be sympathetic to the requirements of parents.

The costs for implementation of distance learning package will be considered through tuition fees for the lockdown period, he said.

He meanwhile urged all the privately owned Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools in the Kingdom to take similar steps.

There are a total of 41 schools following CBSE curriculum in the Kingdom.