More than 5,000 to vote in Indian schools board polls

MUSCAT: The fifth election to the Board of Directors of Indian Schools in Oman will be held on January 11, 2020, the Election Commission of the Board of Directors has said. 5,722 voters are expected to exercise their voting rights in the forthcoming election.

In a press conference, Dr Sathish Nambiar, the election commissioner, briefed the media about the preparations being carried out by the election commission to elect five members to the Board of Directors – Indian Schools in Oman from among the parents of students of Indian School Muscat.

The Election Commission of the Board of Directors consists of Election Commissioner Dr Sathish Nambiar, and Commission Members Babu Rajendran, Shakeel K M, Padmini Atal, and Divesh Loomba. The Election Commission will oversee the entire process of election under the supervision of the Ministry of Education of the Sultanate of Oman.

So far, the commission has received 16 nominations for the election, and all the nominations have been found eligible to contest in the election. The candidates will have until December 25, 2019 to withdraw their nomination, and the final list of candidates will be published on December 26, 2019.

“Candidates are allowed to use social media through the use of a single post in which they are only allowed to speak about the strength of their candidature,” said Nambiar, when asked about the role social media would play in this election. “Apart from the above, the election commission itself will prepare a hardcopy of the profile of candidates and will circulate the same among all parents of Indian School Muscat for their information and awareness.”

Babu Rajendran, a member of the election commission, added, “I urge all parents to exercise their franchise to ensure that the most preferred and most eligible candidates are elected to the Board of Directors. The voting shall begin at 8am and close at 5pm, after which the gates of the school will be closed. However, those who are inside the school for voting before 5pm will be allowed to cast their votes, even after the gates have been shut.”