A Bangladeshi official says that the majority of his countrymen and women are “disciplined” and abide by the laws of the Kingdom, with only a few being involved in illegal activities. “There has been an exaggeration of the facts. I can tell you, with confidence, that the number of those involved in violations is not that alarming. There are people (who break the law), I can't deny that fact, but I think that the (majority of the) Bangladeshi community living in Saudi Arabia are very disciplined people. They have been here for many years,” said Golam Sarwar, Consul General of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. He was speaking to Saudi Gazette recently on the sidelines of the Bangladesh International School's governing board elections. Sarwar said that the consulate was very happy to be part of the school election. “I would like to thank the government of Saudi Arabia, especially the general directorate of education for their efforts in making this election a success,” he said. He said the Bangladesh International School has been working under an invalid license for the past 18 months, but said that the Saudi authorities have given the school until the end of the year to sort out the situation. He said the elections are part of the licensing process. A total of 503 people voted in the elections for 12 candidates who contested for five seats on the school governing board. Kazi Neamul Bashir won the chairman's position by 282 votes; Manjur E. Mostafa became vice chairman by 269 votes; members Dr. Mohammed Jala Uddin won by 257 votes; Abul Basher Islam won by 252 votes and Mohammed Golam Sarwar won by 249 votes. According to Saleh Al-Ghamdi, representative of the Jeddah General Directorate of Education and member of the election committee, Bangladeshi officials from the school have always cooperated with the authorities. “We look at these people as civilized people and we have never had any problem with them. As for the license, we saw it would be better to speed up the election so that they can renew the license as soon as possible,” Al-Ghamdi said. Meanwhile, outstanding students at the English section of the Bangladesh International School, were awarded medals and certificates for their good work. Ann Khoaz, Principal of the school, said that Zaynab Syed Ahmed, 16, was awarded a ‘Top in the World Award' with number one ranking in IGCSE (International General Certificate Secondary Education)in Food and Nutrition subject ; Atiquzamman Khan Ankur, 16, was awarded Top in Jeddah with a ranking of number two in the World Top 5 in IGCSE Accounting and Top in Saudi Arabia in IGCSE English as a second language; Khalid Hasan Chowdhury, 18, was awarded Top in Saudi Arabia in AS (A-Standard level) Economics, Shahad Iqbal Khan, 18, was awarded Top in Jeddah for A level Chemistry; and Erfan Mohammed Chowdhury, was awarded Top in Jeddah for A
