News Dubai

School bid to evict staff sparks a fight
By Anjana Sankar
9 February 2005

ABU DHABI — The management and the teachers of the Philippines National School in Abu Dhabi were caught up in a fracas on Sunday evening when the former tried to forcefully evict the staff from their accommodation, which the teachers say was in retaliation against them for having complained against the school.

The fracas ended with the intervention of the labour official from the Philippine embassy who promised the embassy's intervention to resolve the crisis.

According to the official, the ambassador held a meeting with both the parties on Monday and is continuing the efforts to reach an amicable settlement.

Khaleej Times had exclusively reported two days ago that the teachers had filed a complaint with the Foreign Private School Department of the Ministry of Education, accusing the school management of offering shared accommodation to both male and female teachers in one villa and forcing the staff to bear all visa and labour fees.

Protesting at the "unfair" treatment meted out to them, which the school denied when contacted, more than half a dozen teachers have already submitted their resignation.

According to a teacher who requested anonymity, all those who protested against the management received a memo on Sunday asking them to vacate the same day from the villa, where the staff was accommodated.

"When they came to know that we took up the matter with the Press, the management was furious and asked us to vacate our rooms the very same day and accept a Dh300 as housing allowance," he said.

According to him, around 6.30pm, the director of the school along with the finance officer, a driver and some guards entered the villa and tried to drive the teachers out.

"There were seven of them and the male teachers blocked their way into the rooms. The director threatened to put us in jail and abused us in foul language, which I have all recorded in my tape," claimed one teacher.

One of them called the police and informed that the employer is harassing them while some other teachers informed the labour officer who arrived by 10pm.

The school director, however, dismissed the allegations as untrue.

When contacted, Annabell Olivera, Labour Counsellor at the embassy, said: "The situation was bad when I went there. I told both of them to restrain from doing anything that will jeopardise their stay in the country."