With 2400 students, Indian school in Qatar sends message to parents announcing its closure
About 300 Karnataka students studying in the school face uncertainty over their academic future
Qatar: Doha Modern Indian School, Qatar (DMIS) on Wednesday sent a text messages to the parents of all its students that the current academic year (2019-2020) will be the last operational year of the school. The message urged the parents “to ensure places” for their kids in other schools in Qatar for academic year 2020-2021.
The message triggered confusion and panic among the parents of over 2400 students studying in the school including about 300 students from Karnataka. One of the main reason the parents of the students have expressed concern over the development is that lack of Indian Schools in Qatar. The parents are now worried how more than 2400 students will be accommodated in the limited number of Indian schools with their own limited seats all of a sudden.
Faisal G, a Qatar based Udupi businessman and father of a student studying in school told Vartha Bharati that a WhatsApp group has been created by parents and that they are planning to visit Indian Embassy in Doha and Supreme Education Counsel of Qatar with their grievances.
“It will be a difficult scenario if 2400 students are forced to switch schools altogether. We don’t have many Indian schools in Qatar. How can we expect those schools to accommodate 2400 students.” Faisal who is residing in Qatar from last nine years told Vartha Bharati over phone.
Asked if he contacted any of the officials of the school in person or over phone Faisal added that his attempts to meet Principal of the school did not work as the Principal refused to meet or comment on the issue.
“But I spoke to the PRO and Vice Principal of the school. All they told me was it was management’s decision due to the financial constraints. They did not detail me about the matter” Faisal said.
The message sent by the school however noted that it was “due to unavoidable reasons” that the school was closing.
The full text of message sent by the school to parents read “Dear Parent, We are constrained to inform you that due to unavoidable reasons, the last academic year of the School will be 2019-20 and hence you are requested to ensure places for your kids in other schools in Qatar for the academic year 2020-21. However we shall update you on this matter in the coming days in case of any development otherwise. We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused to you and this message is sent to you as an advance intimation.”
The parents of students studying in class 9 and 11 are left into a jeopardy as the students are registered with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and they have to complete their academics under CBSE. With no other options left, the last hope for the parents of these students lies in their visits to Indian Embassy in Doha and their meeting with Supreme Education Counsel of Qatar.
Despite attempts of Vartha Bharati to contact officials of the school, they remained unavailable to comment on the matter.
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Indian mobile hospital treats over 2,200 cyclone-hit people as New Delhi ramps up relief efforts in
Colombo (PTI): A mobile hospital set up by India in Sri Lanka has provided medical care to over 2,200 people affected by Cyclone Ditwah, as New Delhi ramped up its assistance to the flood-ravaged island nation with engineering support and delivery of fresh relief consignments, the Indian mission here said on Sunday.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse triggered by the cyclone, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country's disaster-response capacity.
At least 627 people have been killed and 190 remain missing as of Sunday noon due to catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.
Sharing a social media post by the Ministry of External Affairs on its X handle, the Indian High Commission said a field hospital set up by India in Mahiyanganaya near Kandy has provided medical care to more than 2,200 people affected by the cyclone since December 5.
The hospital has also performed 67 minor procedures and three surgeries, it said. The field hospital was airlifted to Sri Lanka by an IAF C-17 aircraft along with a 78-member Indian medical team on Tuesday.
In another post, the mission said Indian Army engineers, working with Sri Lanka Army Engineers and the Road Development Authority, in Kilinochchi have begun removing a damaged bridge on the Paranthan–Karachchi–Mullaitivu (A35) road, a key route disrupted by the cyclone.
"This joint effort marks another step toward restoring vital connectivity for affected communities," it said.
India has additionally sent nearly 1,000 tonnes of food items and clothing contributed by the people of Tamil Nadu. Of these, about 300 tonnes reached Colombo on Sunday morning aboard three Indian Naval ships.
High Commissioner Santosh Jha handed over the supplies to Sri Lankan Minister for Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe.
India, on November 28, launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu', a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative, to aid Sri Lanka in its recovery from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Since the launch of the operation, India has provided about 58 tonnes of relief material, including dry rations, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, essential cloths, water purification kits and about 4.5 tonnes of medicines and surgical equipment, the Indian mission said in a press release on Sunday.
Another 60 tonnes of equipment, including generators, inflatable rescue boats, Outboard Motors, and excavators, have also been brought to Sri Lanka, it said, adding that 185 tonnes of Bailey Bridge units were airlifted to restore critical connectivity along with 44 engineers.
Two columns of the National Disaster Response Force, comprising 80 experts and K9 units with specially trained dogs, assisted with immediate rescue and relief efforts in Sri Lanka.
Besides the field hospital in Mahiyanganaya, medical centres have also been set up in the badly hit Ja-Ela region and in Negombo. INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri, and INS Sukanya provided immediate rescue and relief assistance to Sri Lanka.
Apart from the two Chetak helicopters deployed from INS Vikrant, two heavy-lift, MI-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force are actively involved in evacuations and airlifting relief material, the release said.
At the request of the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre, a virtual meeting was organised between DMC and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s National Remote Sensing Centre on Saturday.
Since the onset of the disaster, ISRO has been providing maps to assist DMC in its rescue efforts, the release said.
