DOHA: The management of the Philippine International School in Qatar (PISQ) has been accused of treating school teachers as prisoners as the latter are kept locked in their official accommodation after 8.30 every night.
Some teachers claiming to be victims of the management’s high-handedness say the main entrance to their lodgings is locked at 8.30 every evening and a school official keeps the keys with him.
“We, therefore, cannot venture out of our accommodation after 8.30pm even if there is a personal emergency,” said a teacher, adding that for fear of losing their jobs they were not in a position to protest.
The school management admits the main door of the teachers’ accommodation is locked at 8.30pm daily but says it is to ensure safety and security of the place as it was broken into by burglars last Sunday.
A “concerned” individual who is not a Filipino but was “sympathetically aware” of the plight of the Philippine school teachers termed the situation as disgraceful in remarks to The Peninsula yesterday.
“The issue now is they are keeping us locked inside our accommodation after 8.30pm. We are like prisoners, with only one person having the keys to the main door,” he claimed in remarks posted on a popular local website.
He said they were receiving very low salaries as compared to other schools in the country. “If we complain even to school authorities, it will be followed with termination and repatriation,” he said.
Speaking to The Peninsula yesterday, Luisa Mendoza, PISQ Principal, denied the allegation that the teachers were being treated like prisoners, but admitted in the same breath that the practice of locking the gate after 8.30pm was a security measure they had implemented after a burglar broke into the accommodation on Sunday evening.
“An intruder entered our accommodation after 4pm last Sunday, stealing valuables including three digital cameras and jewellery from two of the rooms,” Mendoza said.
In the wake of that incident, she said they had held a meeting and agreed that the gate be locked after 8.30pm as a security measure to prevent any theft in future.
“It just happened that three of the teachers were not around during the meeting so they did not know about it,” she explained.
However, any teacher is free to go out and enter the accommodation premises even after 8.30pm; they just have to call the person having the key, according to Mendoza.
With regard to the complaint about low salaries, she said the teachers knew about the salary they would be receiving as they were informed about it back home before being recruited.
And as for the accusation that teachers are terminated summarily and packed off home, she said: “No one has been terminated or repatriated for lodging complaints. Teachers are terminated for valid reasons.”
by Raynald Rivera
DOHA: The management of the Philippine International School in Qatar (PISQ) has been accused of treating school teachers as prisoners as the latter are kept locked in their official accommodation after 8.30 every night.
Some teachers claiming to be victims of the management’s high-handedness say the main entrance to their lodgings is locked at 8.30 every evening and a school official keeps the keys with him.
“We, therefore, cannot venture out of our accommodation after 8.30pm even if there is a personal emergency,” said a teacher, adding that for fear of losing their jobs they were not in a position to protest.
The school management admits the main door of the teachers’ accommodation is locked at 8.30pm daily but says it is to ensure safety and security of the place as it was broken into by burglars last Sunday.
A “concerned” individual who is not a Filipino but was “sympathetically aware” of the plight of the Philippine school teachers termed the situation as disgraceful in remarks to The Peninsula yesterday.
“The issue now is they are keeping us locked inside our accommodation after 8.30pm. We are like prisoners, with only one person having the keys to the main door,” he claimed in remarks posted on a popular local website.
He said they were receiving very low salaries as compared to other schools in the country. “If we complain even to school authorities, it will be followed with termination and repatriation,” he said.
Speaking to The Peninsula yesterday, Luisa Mendoza, PISQ Principal, denied the allegation that the teachers were being treated like prisoners, but admitted in the same breath that the practice of locking the gate after 8.30pm was a security measure they had implemented after a burglar broke into the accommodation on Sunday evening.
“An intruder entered our accommodation after 4pm last Sunday, stealing valuables including three digital cameras and jewellery from two of the rooms,” Mendoza said.
In the wake of that incident, she said they had held a meeting and agreed that the gate be locked after 8.30pm as a security measure to prevent any theft in future.
“It just happened that three of the teachers were not around during the meeting so they did not know about it,” she explained.
However, any teacher is free to go out and enter the accommodation premises even after 8.30pm; they just have to call the person having the key, according to Mendoza.
With regard to the complaint about low salaries, she said the teachers knew about the salary they would be receiving as they were informed about it back home before being recruited.
And as for the accusation that teachers are terminated summarily and packed off home, she said: “No one has been terminated or repatriated for lodging complaints. Teachers are terminated for valid reasons.”
THE PENINSULA