Upstart Pinoy school in Qatar is accredited to teach RP curriculum - DepEd

MANILA, Philippines - A school official clarified that the Philippine International School in Qatar (PISQ) is “recognized and accredited" by the Department of Education (DepEd) contrary to a migrant group’s claim that only one school in Doha has acquired such permit. Zosimo Cabrias Jr., PISQ president, told GMANews.TV in an e-mail that Migrante-Middle East gave “false and unfair" claims that only the Philippine School of Doha (PSD) is “duly registered and accredited" by the DepEd. “The PISQ is in fact registered with and is accredited by the DepEd," Cabrias said. A check with the DepEd on Tuesday confirmed Cabrias’ statement. According to DepEd’s records, the PISQ was granted a permit to operate on March 15, 2007 (PG 003), which would expire in two to three years. “Before that, the school was on a provisional DepEd permit, pending the conduct of an ocular inspection by DepEd officials. The school was likewise issued in February 2000 official DepEd authority to adopt the Philippine educational curricula for pre-elementary, elementary and secondary levels," Cabrias further elaborated. The issue of the two Qatar-based schools’ operation permit came to light when John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-ME regional coordinator, voiced out fears that PSD will be closed to favor the “profit-oriented" PISQ. "Since the PSD is duly registered and accredited by the Department of Education, many family-status OFWs in Doha enrolled their children to PSD aside from the fact that tuition fees are lower compared to the profit-oriented PISQ reportedly owned by a Qatari national," Monterona said in a statement on Thursday. Monterona further explained that a certain “Mr. Basilio" is lobbying for PSD’s closure so that PISQ will be the only existing Philippine school in Doha and that it could absorb PSD’s students. Qatar Consul General and First Secretary Rosario Lemque shrugged off the allegations and said the fear arose when the Qatari Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) met PSD principal Alexander Acosta last October 29 to remind him that the school’s permit expired on Oct 6. “The closure of the school was possible some days ago," Lemque told GMANews.TV. “But with the representations made by the Embassy and because the Qatar government is known to care for (OFWs and their families) the possibility became remote." Common among OFWs A search over the Internet showed that the feud between PSD and PISQ is no isolated case. Similar rivalries have also been reported in Saudi Arabia and in Athens, Greece. In Saudi Arabia’s western city of Jeddah, for instance, the English-language daily Arab News carried plenty of reports over the breakup of the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ), which used to boast about being the biggest Philippine overseas school. After years of misgovernance and infighting that resulted in the unceremonious sacking of the Philippine consul general in Jeddah in 2003 and also in a murder attempt on one of board chairmen, the school almost closed as many community members opted to organize their own schools. Today, the IPSJ is just one of the smaller schools in a field of six. Community schools in Riyadh and in the eastern city of Dammam have also broken up due to infighting. - GMANews.TV