Errors and Omissions?

A series of recent developments in the school boards and management committees indicate that the new members have a fantasy for changing affiliations. When the new board was constituted, Sanjeev Kohli, the former First Secretary in charge of school administration, presented a list of candidates before the patron. Board members selected from the list proved to be as good as the earlier members. Then the patron's decision to appoint Parikh, the senior executive, as the board chairman proved to be another miscalculation. One-time friends became ardent foes within a few months as the new chairman allegedly changed his affiliation in favour of the private school lobby.

Then the patron's choice fell on Sandeep Arora, who has been dilly-dallying ever since assuming power. While he was not allowed to function normally by the old guard of the school board, when the bottlenecks were removed he apparently lost his job and changed his affiliation. The latest rumour mill says that even though the patron and the board passed a bold resolution to revoke the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of two private schools, the chairman has been sitting on it without bothering to forward the file to the Ministry of Education. Without the file reaching the MoE, nothing will happen and all the efforts made by the patron and board members will be futile. The school lobby has wooed him with some business proposals and some of the leading Gujarathi businessmen have already made attractive proposals before chairman Sandeep Arora.

Business and Self Interest

Other leading business group with Indian origin, who have been kept away from the school matters, is now taking a renewed interest in filling the board and committees with its "own" people. How can the other business groups allow that?The latest turnaround is said to be by a member . In management committees new presidents have started hand picking their own men to join the team. Is it a series of mistakes by the patron or related to the systemic nature of the Indian School system - whoever comes to power would like to be part of the system and enjoy the benefits. It looks like most of the board members and school management committee members are working in self-interest and nobody has the community interest in mind. The initial enthusiasm to clean up the Aegean Stable remains just an illusion because the system is so cemented with nepotism, corruption and self-interest. One person cannot change the system!Now everyone is waiting to see who is the winning party and change affiliation accordingly. They are all sitting on the fence to join the winning side.

Electrifying the School!

In Indian School Muscat, one of the board members has been doing roaring electrical supplies business. According to school sources, the maintenance department used to change the main switch and other electrical apparatus in the school premises quite often. The required electrical appliances have been supplied by an electrical company managed by the respective board member. He represents a Hindu Religious and Business Association. Now the board member is unhappy that he cannot supply electrical material to the school and make a killing in collaboration with the school administrator, who is already notorious for changing his date of birth in the passport by five years. It is learned that the local authorities have asked the Indian Military Establishment to verify his date of birth. The administrator was working in the Indian Military before joining the school. His personal file was taken by the former school president. -keralamonitor