THE ENGLISH School is once again being dragged into the spotlight after a group of former students raised the alarm on what they say is the school’s apparent disintegration.
An email is being distributed among members of the English School Old Boys and Girls Association (ESOBGA) calling for immediate action to “Save Our School Now!”
Former students are invited to meet at the entrance of the school next Thursday at 7pm to discuss the future of the “beloved school”.
In the email, graduates are warned: “We must ALL take action NOW to Save Our School or whatever is left of our beloved school TODAY.”
According to the letter, “the situation calls for immediate action because continued deterioration could culminate to (sic) the school’s closure”.
The authors claim as “a verifiable fact” the rapid decline of the school’s academic status and “unquestionably” conclude that “highhanded party politics” are to blame for this apparent decline.
“It is clearly evident that party loyalty applied in the management of the school through ‘party politics infused’ appointments in the school’s Board of Directors, by far supersedes adherence to the school’s motto Not for Self but for School),” said the email.
The authors list a series of worrying trends at the school, including the decline in the number of new applicants, an unprecedented increase in the number of board resignations, the frequency in changing head teachers, indifference by highly qualified teachers to compete for positions at the school, and bad finances.
Board chairman Antonis Valanides said yesterday he was ready to meet the graduates to discuss the issues they raised. It was not clear though whether these concerns came from a group of graduates or the official ESOBGA, he said.
“I haven’t seen the email yet though from what I’ve been told these are the same concerns that parents raised during the parents association election campaign and if so, answers can be given for all of them,” he said.
Valanides conceded there has been a 25 per cent drop in applicants but he said other private schools have seen a 30 per cent decline.
“We were expecting this due to the economic crisis.”
He added: “I am not concerned by the quantity of new applicants but the quality. A study we did shows that our latest applicants scored the highest marks in the last round of entry exams compared to entry exam results from the last five years. When we get the best students available then I’m not worried.”
Valanides rejected the school’s academic status was deteriorating.
“I do not accept this. Our latest results show that 85 per cent of our graduates got places in the Russell Group, representing the 20 leading UK universities.”
