Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — School managements have been delegating teachers to buy food items (from supermarkets) and sell them across the counters in school canteens in absence of expat workforce ever since the inspection raids initiated this past week. Sources speaking to a local daily stated that Tatweer Education Holding Company responsible for school canteens is communicating with the third party, the company responsible for the provision of food products to schools, in order to resolve the crisis which has hit schools over the past five days. School principals told the Arabic daily Al Eqtisadiah they were surprised at the sudden absence of canteen manpower and lack of provisions in stock without receiving any prior notice or warning from the company. After making many inquiries, the school managements were informed that it was due to the Interior Ministry's inspection campaigns. With school canteens emptied of food and personnel, many principals resorted to assigning teachers and students to the canteen to sell food items to the students until the contracted company resumed its services. Some schools have even sent home notes informing parents of what they hope is a “temporary inconvenience.” Most parents were not impressed. “Have schools been asleep all these months,” asked Nihad A. a Saudi mother of three children: 9-year-old Nizar, 7-year-old Noura and 5-year-old Nisreen. “They knew November 3 was coming and should have prepared themselves or prepared us. My children take lunch boxes from home but at school not even the water tanks are available for drinking water.” “It's not just the canteens but school hygiene has gone down too,” continued Nihad. “I called up the school principal and told her that it's unhealthy for children to not go to the bathrooms all day and it's unhealthy for them to use unclean facilities.” She said the principal replied with “All's that left is for us to clean the bathrooms!” “I don't mind pitching in and helping the school,” said Saudi schoolteacher Ahmad Z., a 33-year-old. “The country's undergoing a sort of crisis and we all need to help.” “No way!” said another Saudi teacher, 35-year-old Zuhair A. at a secondary boys' school. “I am a teacher and didn't sign up for canteen work or cleaning bathrooms. Is this the Saudization they were talking about?”
