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Philippine School won’t close
Web posted at: 11/20/2008 5:25:40

Source ::: The Peninsula/ By CHRIS V PANGANIBAN

DOHA: The Philippine School Doha (PSD), despite being hounded by controversies on alleged non compliance of its permits, is not closing its operation after all.

PSD officials and the Philippine Embassy clarified this to allay fears among Filipino parents who were alarmed by earlier reports that the school would be closed following the expiry of its permits in the first week of October.

The controversy had even flared up last week amid allegations reported by the website of GMA Channel 7 in the Philippines that PSD will be closed in favour of Philippine International School of Qatar apparently to prevent academic disruption of the students.

Alexander Acosta, PSD principal, told The Peninsula their school had already been granted a commercial permit from the Municipality of Doha on November 6 after they assured the new school site in Madinat Khalifa can be readily occupied by more than 2,000 students next month. He said another permit from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) will follow suit when the students will transfer to their new school location.

For her part, Philippine Consul General Rosario Lemque said Philippine Ambassador Isaias F. Begonia had intervened to validate the PSD status by calling four top Qatari government officials. This resulted in the granting of the new permit for the school that has served Filipino school children for the last 16 years.

“The closure of the school was a grim prospect some days ago,” Lemque told GMA in an e-mail response. “But with the representations made by the Embassy officials and the Qatar government’s sympathetic stance for (OFWs and their families) the possibility became remote.”

Fears about its imminent closure earlier arose when MEHE officials met Acosta last October 29 to remind him that the school’s permit for its present old building had expired last October 6.

This issue which had drawn strong reactions from Overseas Filipino Workers was sparked by a press release by advocacy group Migrante. This release was posted on the Filipino Expatriates group page of qatarliving.com alleging that one Basilio who manages PISQ was lobbying Philippine Ambassador Begonia for the closure of PSD.

When contacted by The Peninsula, Basilio declined to comment saying the report published by GMA network should first specify who was the certain Basilio they referred to.

According to Lemque, MEHE has extended the stay of PSD at its old site despite the fact that the school did not report its increased population which jumped to 2,035 this year from 1,500 in 2007.

Acosta, however, explained the MEHE also considered their explanation that the porta cabins which contractors had assured would be completed by year end and will accommodate the increasing number of students.

Lemque said the school could not fully transfer right away because the new premises still do not have enough classrooms to accommodate the drastic increase of the student population.

She said PSD already needs to transfer to its new location since the old buildings presently occupied are already dilapidated. “MEHE officials just want to make sure the children are safe to prevent a tragedy like what recently happened in Haiti where many school children died after their school tumbled to the ground”.