Dear Editor
THE Board of Directors of the Al Madinah Islamic Academy is refuting an article in the Guyana Chronicle regarding protest action last week, by parents of children attending the school.

First of all, the reporter did not do due diligence in her reporting; she did not make any attempt to obtain a comment from anyone on the board. When asked why, she indicated that she didn’t have time for that; she was “busy with the protest” and “why would parents lie.” The protest lasted no more than 20 minutes. Let me start by correcting and providing accurate information that she should have gathered:

1. Firstly, it was just about 25 parents, not scores, as the article mentioned, who held the protest. Before the protest, no parent ever approached the board to file a complaint; not in person, nor in writing. The board has an open-door policy and the parents have access to any of the members at any time. You have to understand the dynamics of what is happening, which is a power struggle. The protest came about because there are folks using the parents, who unfortunately don’t know any better, to cause trouble because they want the boards’ position.

2. “Azad, speaking on behalf of the parents, said that the school lacks trained-teachers and oftentimes children are sent home due to lack of funds.”
This couldn’t be further from the truth; the school has three sections: nursery, primary and secondary, all with qualified teachers and no child has ever been sent home because of a lack of funds. If your reporter had taken five minutes to clarify this, she would have known this. This is laziness and poor journalism at best.

3. “Last week, children were sent home because their parents did not pay their fees; the children are now at home going to the “backdam.” This was not why the school was established; the board of directors were informed and none of them did anything,” Azad alleged.

Again incorrect, this never came to the board. However, there are a few parents who have large sums of school fees outstanding and the office had been writing every month to these parents since January 2018 without fail, but to no avail. The board made a decision that as at September 2018, persons with large outstanding sums would have to pay in full or part before their child is let back into the school. This happens to be 11 students out of 183; all other parents have paid. Allow me to give you some stats: from the 183 students, 32 are on sponsorship, meaning that sponsors pay for them. The 151 remaining, their total monthly school fees is $379,000; the total salaries as at September 2018 totalled $1,018,795.

4. “The Parent Teachers Association (PTA) does not have a voice in the school and everything they do must be approved by the board.”

A PTA is not a mandatory body in any school, whether public or private. It is at the discretion of the school to allow a PTA. This body is created to foster relations between the parents and teachers of a school; their mandate is not to run a school. The PTA members cannot do as they like; in the past, before systems were put in place, there were members of the PTA who would barge into the classes without permission and do as they please, causing disruption during school hours. The school has procedures and they must be followed at all times. There were times when members of the PTA would offer to do things and never get them done; and when they are asked, they would indicate that they never promised anything. So now permission must be sought from the board. This is a clear indication that the PTA members do not know their roles and functions.

5. “The parent also said that most of the directors who sit on the school board are out of Essequibo and therefore called for Essequibians to take up positions.”
Again, inaccurate information; all of the board members, except one, live in Georgetown; some of whom were at the masjid during the “protest.” A proper reporter would have known this if only they had asked. But it is clear that the more sensational the headline is, the more papers you can sell.

6. “On a weekly basis, parents pay $4000 per child for primary and $5000 [for] secondary. The school also has a bus service, which transports the children to and from school.”
This is the most ridiculous of all. The fee structure is as follows:
Nursery: $2000 per month per child
Primary: $2000 per month per child
Secondary: Grades 7-9, $3000 per month per child; and grades 10-11, $4000 per month per child!
Your reporter has done a great injustice to the name of this school and to the board, management, teachers and students. It is so sad that we–the public–depend on these reporters for fair, accurate and balanced information and, because of incompetence, laziness and lack of proper investigation, this is what is printed.

Sincerely,
Shafeek Ferouz
Secretary,
Al Madinah Islamic Academy