Parents, teachers protest in solidarity with sacked school principal

AMMAN — Around 400 teachers, parents and students gathered outside the Cambridge High School premises on Sunday in protest against the Education Ministry’s recent decision to terminate the services of the principal.

The ministry requested that the school lay off Diana Afranji as of last Wednesday following the death of a seven-year-old girl who drowned in the private school’s pool while swimming with her peers.

The ministry has said that the decision had nothing to do with the incident, but was the result of “complaints filed against her by parents”.

“The decision is unfair and illogical, especially since investigations have not yet confirmed the reason behind the student’s death,” Rula Dawood, a mother of two students at the school, told The Jordan Times at the protest.

One schoolteacher, who preferred anonymity, noted that the former principal addresses issues directly and refuses to “beat around the bush”, which is why “many had problems with her”.

Amany Allaf, a mother of four students at the school, agreed, noting that her children have been attending the school for several years and they speak highly of Afranji’s “advice and leadership skills”.

“We are gathering here to demand the return of the principal, whose guidance has helped our children reach this level of discipline, self-confidence and organisation,” she noted.

Allaf added that Afranji’s “strictness” was required to control the behaviour of students, noting that no student “had the guts” to smoke or show any ill-mannered behaviour inside the school.

Students carried banners calling for the reinstatement of Afranji, who has been serving as principal for more than 40 years in public and private schools, including Sukainah Secondary Education School and Ein Jaloot Comprehensive Secondary School — two of the top public girls’ schools in the capital — in addition to the private Amman Academy and Oxford Schools.

“We loved the way she used to run the school and take care of everything, from the school’s hygiene to the way we dress,” an eighth grader at Cambridge said.

Teachers and parents interviewed by The Jordan Times noted that the “war waged against Afranji” is led by parents whose children’s behaviour was “unacceptable” and saw the incident as a good chance to end her strict administration.

Participants at the protest underlined their support for the family of the student who drowned and their “willingness to see the law take its course”.

They also signed a petition to be presented to the ministry in which they urged it to reconsider its decision.

Meanwhile, Farid Khatib, head of the ministry’s private education department, stressed that the ministry’s decision is “final” and that it was based on several factors.

In previous remarks, he said the school had not obtained the required approval for extracurricular activities and the pool, which is now closed, was not licensed.

Khatib added that the Civil Defence Department notified the school several times between the years 2006 and 2012 of the need to submit the pool’s blueprint in order to meet required safety measures for licensing purposes.

The death of the student prompted the Education Ministry to form a committee that includes members of its private education and legal affairs departments to investigate the incident, and present its report to court.

The ministry has given the school a few days to appoint a new principal, Khatib said.