The International Indian School, Riyadh (IISR) has entrusted a group of teachers to study and submit proposals on a possible pay rise. The move to give an increment to schoolteachers was long pending since their counterparts in Jeddah and Dammam have already received a 10 percent special salary raise in March/April 2008. Akbar Batcha, former chairman of the Managing Committee of International Indian School, Jeddah (IISJ) told Saudi Gazette that considering the inflation and increasing housing rents in the Kingdom, the MC decided to give a 10 percent special salary increase to the teachers. “The pay revision at the IISJ was a long pending issue because for over a decade, no substantial increment was given to the staff. Besides, we don't have any financial crisis at the school as is the case in the Riyadh school,” he said adding that “the school comfortably approved a 10 percent special increment to the teachers in March/April 2008. Similarly, teachers on the payroll of the International Indian School, Dammam (IISD) received a 10 percent increment in basic salaries, said Principal Muhammad Shafee. “The IISD managing committee has approved a special increment of 10 percent on the basic salaries of all teaching and non-teaching staff. The decision was taken against the backdrop of the increasing cost of living in Saudi Arabia,” said Shafee. He said the teachers at IISD are slightly better paid despite the school having a tuition fee structure of only SR160 per month from KG to Xth , lower than both Jeddah and Riyadh. Manzar J. Siddiqui, the IISR principal, in an exclusive interview with Saudi Gazette, said the IISR has formed a Grievances Committee with eight teachers, four each from the boys and girls section. Siddiqui took the decision after a group of teachers protested against the indecision after the deadline of April 15 set by the school's managing committee. “I urged the teachers to form a grievances committee and study the pros and cons by taking into account the budgetary and financial status of the school,” Siddiqui said. The eight teachers, he said, selected as members of the Grievances Committee are Abdus Rashid, Muhammad Rifai, Girija J. Shankar, and Lissamma Thomas selected from the Boys section and Shaheen Haider, Saleem Ara, Minala and Tawheed Ahmed picked from the Girls section of the school. The teachers will be asked to study the school financial data,such as, income and expenditure and submit proposals for the pay rise, he said. The Principal, however, said the MC has been studying the issue of pay rise for the teachers for quite sometime now. “There is no need for any panic as the school is in a quite comfortable financial situation,” he said without giving details of the financial reserves in the bank. One MC member, who as per the protocol of the school management requested anonymity, said the biggest financial burden on the school was its building rent of SR4.7 million and SR7.5 million kept as reserves for teachers' indemnity. He said the school collects SR1.2 million in tuition and an almost equal amount was paid as salaries to the teachers. “However, the school has other sources of revenue that are deposited in the bank as reserve. The school's financial status is quite comfortable and a pay hike of five percent for the teachers can be considered,” he said. Echoing similar remarks, Siddiqui said that with the improving financial status, IISR could revise the pay scale for the teachers.
