Experts’ team to inspect school buildings for safety

SCHOOL buildings are to be inspected annually henceforth to ensure proper maintenance and the safety of all concerned, Private Education Department director Hamad Ali al-Sulaiti told Gulf Times.
“We will start with Arabic private schools, to be followed by community schools and international schools,”

Hamad Ali al-Sulaiti ... ‘big demand for school spaces

he explained in an interview yesterday.
The evaluation of the buildings of the Arabic schools, most of which were established about 30 years ago, should be over within two months.
“A team of experts, comprising experts from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Ashghal and Civil Defence Department, are to undertake the inspection,” the official said.
Once the inspection reports are ready, a committee chaired by the ministry’s undersecretary Rabia al-Kaabi and featuring eight members from various internal departments, would decide whether the buildings are safe or not.
“The report, ensuring the safety of a school building, is to be made mandatory at the time of the renewal of the institution’s licence every year,” al-Sulaiti said.
The official pointed out that Pak Shama School and College, the oldest expatriate educational institution in the country, had recently shifted to new premises at Wakrah from their old facility.
In addition to the safety requirements, the schools have to adhere to the stipulations regarding making available adequate space for students inside and outside the classrooms.
“In a classroom, each student should have 1sqm area whereas it is 2sqm outside. For example, if a school has 500sqm area outside, the maximum intake should be 250 students,” he explained.
Asked if the schools were following this guideline, al-Sulaiti said most of them do and the others would be found out through the inspections.
The Private Education Department oversees the functioning of more than 130 schools, accounting for about 85,000 students.
“Some schools may have only 200 students whereas there are institutions with more than 8,000 students,” he observed.
The director pointed out that there is a big demand for school spaces, especially in international schools, given the influx of expatriate families.
“Some expatriate schools have more than 500 students on the waiting list,” he said while maintaining that the licensing procedures for new schools are very simple.
“The most important criterion is to have a big and suitable building,” al-Sulaiti maintained.
The Private Education Department has given licence for seven new schools this year, including the recently opened German School.
“Four international schools, owned by Qataris, and a Japanese school scheduled for opening in April 2009, are among this group,” the official added.