Picking up on the story of unsafe girls schools in the Eastern Province, Abeer Mishkhas has this column in Arab News. I’m a bit confused about her reference to the “Presidency of Girls’ Education”. The Presidency was abolished in the aftermath of the 2002 fire at the girls’ school in Mecca as a result of the Presidency’s malfeasance in assuring school safety. This resulted in girls’ education being removed from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs (of which the presidency was part) to the Ministry of Education.

It’s possible that the presidency kept its designation following the move, but that seems peculiar. I know the move led to the naming of a Ministry of Education official as the one responsible for girls’ education, but I do not believe that the staff of the Presidency was moved lock, stock, and barrel to the Ministry. I’ve asked Ms. Mishkhas for clarification.

Not enough safety measures in girls’ schools
Abeer Mishkhas

In an interesting and revealing statement, the director general of Civil Defense Department in Dammam, Hamad Al-Joeid told Okaz and Al-Watan newspapers last week that safety regulations in girls’ schools in the Eastern Province leave much to be desired. He warned about the silence over fires in girls’ schools saying that things might take a dangerous turn. According to Al-Joeid, six fires have taken place in girls’ schools in the Eastern Province since the beginning of the school year.

The director said there are many reasons for those fires that have not claimed any lives so far. He cited electrical faults as one of the main reasons for the six incidents as most of those fires were caused by faulty electrical meters and inexperienced guards who are not ready to deal with emergencies.

He added that due to the rules set by the General Presidency for Girl’s Education in the Kingdom, headmistresses and female teachers are not allowed to contact the Civil Defense Department. Presidency’s regulations, he said, stipulate that Civil Defense employees can only visit girls’ schools when there is an official from the presidency watching over. He noted that as the Civil Defense teams’ visits usually take place at night, it has been difficult to get a representative of the presidency to attend those visits.
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