Watan School teachers gather outside the Girls' Education Administration in Jeddah to voice concerns about their jobs at the fire-damaged school. — Okaz photoBy Hussein Hazzazi Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – Several injured female teachers and other employees of the fire-damaged Bara'em Al-Watan Private Girls' School, said here Saturday that their jobs are under threat and want the Ministry of Education to assure them of permanent future employment. The school was recently hit by a fire, claiming several lives and injuring many others. A total of 130 teachers gathered in front of the headquarters of the Girls' Education Administration in Jeddah on Saturday to deliver their grievances to officials. They wanted assurances that they will be among those employed under the ministry's new plan to recruit 28,000 female teachers. Officials of the Girls' Education Administration met with the female teachers to receive their demands. They promised to raise the matter with the ministry. The woman teachers said they spent the prime years of their lives teaching at private schools and now they are in distress. “We are the female teachers of Bara'em Al-Watan School in Jeddah, where a fire broke out on Nov. 19, 2011, leaving behind several dead, many injured and causing considerable damage. We are still suffering from the psychological effects of the disaster,” said the teachers. The woman teachers said that one week after the fire they were transferred to a girls' primary school to conduct afternoon classes from 12.15 P.M. until 5.15 P.M. All the female teachers attended regularly except for those who were injured in the fire. “Our monthly salaries are not more than SR2,200 after deducting social insurance. We all have university qualifications in all the specializations.” “We sacrificed our time and effort so that the schoolgirls could complete their first semester, but the guardians withdrew their daughters from the school due to the different school hours and the girls' psychological condition. This might cause the closure of the school in the second semester if the situation continues. This could see us lose our jobs.” They said the Ministry of Civil Service must help them even if they are working in the private sector. __
