• Home

Outgoing zone chief's last acts spark anger

DUBAI - The former director of Umm Al Quwain Educational Zone, Ahmed Al Kharji, ended his tenure yesterday by taking two actions that has sparked anger and resentment among schools and zonal departments.

When he learnt of the order discharging him from his duty was to be signed soon, Kharji paid the employees at the printing press, where the General Secondary School Certificate Exams are printed, their remunerations.

He also sanctioned the payment of those delegated from schools from the Zone's budget without waiting to receive the schools' shares from their respective caféterias which has been the rule observed over the past many years.

The remunerations paid to the employees totalled Dh19,000.

The second act Kharji took was in issuing a circular to all zonal schools in which he stated that he had relinquished the shares of the Zone from the profits of the school caféterias which amounted to Dh135,000.

The circular stirred up resentment in the two departments. Official sources at the Educational Zone disclosed that the idea of issuing the circulars struck Kharji only on Saturday evening, and, after being instigated by the director of his technical office.

When the two men learnt that an order on the appointment of a new director was about to be signed, they drafted the said circulars.

However, he could not circulate the circulars to schools on the date when it issued by him. It was sent the next day by fax. He did not wait for it to be distributed by mail. The circular was dated May 12, but he forgot that when schools receive any circular by mail or fax they put the outgoing stamp on the day it was received. Therefore the date of the circular sent to all schools was dated May 15, the same day of the issue of the ministerial decree on the appointment of the new director.

The sources also disclosed that the tampering with the circular's date had caused disorder in the serialisation of the decrees issued as per the records.

It's worth mentioning here that the principals of Umm Al Quwain schools had, at meetings held earlier, called for the Zone to give up its share of revenues generated by the school caféterias, but their request had always always rejected.