Parents meet with minister to request extension of operation duration for Lale School

The parents of the students of Lale Youth International School have filed a petition to the Minister of Education requesting an extension of the period granted to Biz Atolls Maldives to operate the school.

The petition, signed by 384 parents, was presented to Education Minister Dr Asim Ahmed at a meeting held this afternoon.

After presenting the petition, a parent told Sun Online that they were very satisfied with how Lale School is operated by Biz Atolls Maldives.

“The parents are very satisfied with the way Biz Atolls Maldives operates Lale School. If the management changes, it will affect the curriculum and disturb studies. So we explained these concerns to the minister,” he said.

He further said that Lale School provides several services which are not provided by any other school in the Maldives, and that he did not believe that any other company could operate Lale School as well as it is operated by Biz Atolls Maldives.

“The Turkish company which collaborates with Biz Atolls Maldives in operating Lale School operates such schools in over 170 countries around the world. This school pays special attention to discipline. Their aim is to produce Islamic scientists. They operate schools in Islamic countries as well as other countries with this purpose,” he said.

He said that legal experts had advised that there are no legal impediments to handing over the operation of Lale School to Biz Atolls Maldives for a longer duration.

The parents said after their one and a half hour meeting with the minister, that the minister had said that a decision will be made regarding this issue after discussion with senior government officials.

When contacted by Sun Online after the meeting, Dr Asim said that information regarding this matter will be relayed to the media later.

A board member of Lale School told Sun Online that the government had promised to provide land to establish a boarding school following discussions in 2011; however, to date, this had not been done.

He said that this year, the government had said after a meeting that a decision will be made in accordance with the attorney general’s advice on the matter.

The government has extended the period granted to Biz Atolls Maldives to operate Lale School until the end of 2013, after its five year contract with the company expired on 25 May.