SCHOOL GUARD IN DUBAI KILLED WHILE ON DUTY

A security guard on duty at a Dubai school was killed in a traffic incident just outside the campus’ gates on Monday

DUBAI — The fate of around 450 Pakistani students in Abu Dhabi hangs in the balance as their school is at the risk of shutting down over lack of funds, Ghulam Dastgir, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE, has said.

Speaking at an event organised by the Pakistan Business Council Dubai on Monday, he said most of the children come from lowincome families and urged the business community to step forward to bail out the school.

“If we don’t help, it will be shut down and there are 450 students in the school. It is located in the Musaffah area. The number of students in the school cannot be increased because the building is small. The school cannot increase the fee either due to regulatory requirements.

“Since most of them are children of blue-collar workers, the embassy has to support the school,” the ambassador said.

The cost to run the school is Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE

around Dh2.2 million, while the revenues hit just Dh1.1 million, he said.

“There is no other option but to support it with donations. We are going to suggest to Islamabad to come up with a permanent solution for this school.

“One option is to ask the Overseas Pakistani Foundation to support it and the other is to increase the fee. But before that, we need funding to improve the school’s infrastructure and other facilities to meet the Adec (Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge) requirements.”

One option is to ask the Overseas Pakistani Foundation to support it and the other is to increase the fee.”