Lale Youth International School is under investigation as a front for an international tax and visa racket operating out of Turkey, Minivan News understands, after weeks of investigation and dozens of interviews with concerned staff, parents and government agencies.
Today police requested that Maldives immigration hold the passport of Principal Serkan Akar, after he attempted to flee the country this morning. Minivan News understands the investigation relates to matters concerning child abuse at the school, and potentially fraudulent qualifications.
The school is also currently being investigated by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), following complaints from parents. A team from the commission has already interviewed staff and management, and is reportedly in the process of reviewing two conference-tables worth of documents.
Minivan News understands the investigation is now examining visa issues relating to the school, and possible human trafficking.
President of HRCM Ahmed Saleem said the Lale case was “very strange” and a “high priority” for the commission.
“A lot of government institutions have investigated the school: the Labour Ministry, police… the strange thing is that no action has been taken,” he said. HRCM’s investigation is ongoing but is expected to be resolved next week.
Serkan Akar said he did not wish to comment on the status of his passport and promptly hung up when the subject of Lale was raised.
Deputy Principal Suleyman Atayev said Akar was trying to escort two children to an Information Communications Technology (ICT) Olympiad when police stopped him at the airport
“He had a return ticket for May 20,” Atayev said, adding that he was confident any allegations against the Principal would be proven false.
“Serkan has been told he cannot leave for seven days while the investigation is in progress. His passport is being held by police,” he said.
A teacher familiar with the matter said if Akar was escorting children to an ICT Olympiad, “then why didn’t he tell anyone, and why did he pack up his apartment?”
Atayev was also critical of HRCM’s investigation: “They are refusing to tell us the nature of the complaints they are investigating. They are supposed be about human rights but they are not respecting ours.”
“We are grateful you are seeking the truth,” he added.
I. Biz Atoll
The former government-managed Fareediyya School was converted to an international school and renamed Lale Youth International School in 2008, under an agreement made with the former government, and was officially opened by President Mohamed Nasheed in May 2009.
The agreement to run the school was made between the Education Ministry and a local Maldivan company called Biz Atoll Pvt Ltd, which operates out of an unmarked fifth floor residence in a large, nondescript apartment block on Buruzu Magu. The Biz Atoll paperwork is signed by a Turkish individual called ‘Cengiz Canta’.
Education Minister Dr Musthafa Luthfy told Minivan News last week that the Ministry was thinking about the school’s future “very carefully”, and had amended its agreement with Biz Atoll to include a requirement for a new principal “within three months”, together with minimum qualifications. The Ministry also included “termination clauses”, he said, adding that while it preferred to minimise disruption to the school and students, it was prepared to go through a six month process of re-tendering if necessary.
Regarding the allegations of child abuse, he noted that it was very difficult to prove first hand “because when the supervisory team is there these things don’t occur.”
“We are still receiving complaints. Parents are not very happy with the school and we are not happy about what has happened – we look first to the welfare of the children,” Dr Luthfy said.
Biz Atoll declined to comment on this story “due to an ongoing investigation.”
Atayev said that Biz Atoll was “continuing to advise us.”
II. A ‘cardboard school’
Lale’s school fees are somewhat arbitrary. Most students pay a monthly tuition fee of US$150. Others pay a combination of other fees including a ‘registration fee’ of US$240, an ‘admission fee’ of US$50, and in some cases an ‘annual enrolment fee’ of up to US$300-465. Yet other students receive discounts on these amounts ranging between 5-50 percent.
The school, which was provided to Biz Atoll free by the government, reportedly receives 50 percent of its funding from a group of Turkish businessmen who pour charity funds into schools in several developing countries, including Sri Lanka, Burma, Indonesia and Cambodia.
Asked who these individuals funding the school were, Lufthy said “I don’t think anyone is sure.”
Atayev confirmed the school was funded by Turkish businessmen through a Turkish organisation called Tuskon, ‘The Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists’, and its subsidiary.
But despite the apparent presence of an income, Lale teachers report being denied clocks and light bulbs for their classrooms because of budgetary constraints, while the school’s science labs have no water or electricity and the chemistry lab no gas connection, preventing students from completing coursework necessary for their IGCSE exams in 2011.
In addition, the school has no librarian after he was dismissed last year and not been replaced.
“It’s like they are intentionally trying to keep the school small,” a teacher remarked to Minivan News.
“Last December they gave the same exam to a student four times. Afterwards the teacher was advised to give the student more marks, and he passed. Multiple teachers have said they have failed half their classes, but still their students still move up.”
Another staff member told Minivan News that one of the greatest sources of angst among staff was “the situation with money.”
“It is commonly accepted among the foreign staff that Turkish teachers are getting higher wages, and that much of the money being brought into the school is not being directed in the appropriate manner. Indian and local teachers are at a huge disadvantage, with many of them receiving very low wages, and even gaining contracts minus basic privileges that other foreign staff get, such as rent allowances,” he said.
Atayev told Minivan News that a local teacher earned Rf10,000, while a Turkish teacher earned “maybe Rf10,200” out of which they paid their own accommodation.
“We don’t have accommodation at the school,” he explained. “A teacher who because of his position and responsibility might get 10,400-10,500 still has to pay US$800-900 rent from his salary.”
When a foreign staff member queried the salary situation, a Turkish staff member reportedly replied: ‘I don’t know, we get paid differently to you.’
Yet another staff member reported sighting “bundles” of Rf 500 notes being given to Turkish staff.
Meanwhile, a parent told Minivan News that he had spoken to one of the Turkish businessmen involved with the school, who had boasted that if his business donated money to the school, under Turkish taxation law he did not have to pay taxes on it.
A teacher told Minivan News that “Turkish teachers escort Turkish businessmen around the school on a weekly basis, and regularly make trips to Turkey. We certainly couldn’t afford to go to Turkey on our salaries, and this is a school that can’t afford clocks or light bulbs.”
“A lot of money is going somewhere,” another suggested. Atayev, on the other hand, claimed that no Turkish teacher worked at the school for the money, but rather “for the benefit of humankind.”
“Even Bangladeshi staff are given an airfare home once a year,” he claimed.
Parents who become inquisitive are reportedly offered scholarships, often by Serkan himself. A parent who had become concerned about the situation told Minivan News that Serkan offered her daughter a scholarship to Turkey even though only her son attended the school.
III. Lacking qualifications
A common complaint among both Maldivian and expatriate staff at the school is that many of the Turkish teachers are unable to speak English sufficiently to communicate, let alone teach.
Instead, students are reportedly taught five sessions of Turkish a week (compared with two in Islam). Several teachers have even offered English lessons to the Turkish teachers, and expressed surprise at the apparent lack of interest.
“The level of the Turkish staff’s English is a real concern, with many foreign teachers unable to even have an open conversation with some of the Turkish staff,” a Lale teacher told Minivan News. “They have been offered English lessons by two staff members, to which they have been lacklustre contributors.”
One Turkish teacher explained that it was “not important for [another Turkish teacher] to be fluent”, and that he would only use English “when he has to”.
Atayev said it was unnecessary for those teachers teaching Turkish to speak English, “but the chemistry and maths teachers are fluent.”
Many staff complained in particular about the Physical Education teacher, whose “demeanour both around students and staff has been the subject of discussions for some weeks now,'” according to one teacher.
The principal Serkan Akar was criticised for lacking both professionalism and any apparent qualifications in education or management. A source told Minivan News that when pressured over his qualifications, Akar had produced certification “still warm from the printer.”
“The Turkish teachers treat the school like their playground – their kids are here for 24 hours, and they even do their laundry and cooking on the grounds,” a teacher commented.
After HRCM demanded documentation from the school, including codes of conduct and school disciplinary procedures, foreign teachers were locked out of the school’s printing and photocopy room.
Minivan News understands that two large conference tables at HRCM are now straining under the weight of Lale School documents. A copy of Lale school’s disciplinary procedures, sighted by Minivan News, contains a category called ‘unsafe behaviour’ under which is included “throwing snowballs”.
Gambling is also prohibited “because it disrupts the learning environment”, as is “pulling the fire alarm”, despite the fact that Lale does not possess one.
IV. Visa discrepancies
Initial recruitment of teachers was performed by Biz Atoll. An early job advertisement sought nearly 138 staff, including eight mathematics teachers, eight biology teachers, six Russian teachers, five PE teachers and six chemistry teachers for Rf 10,000 apiece. Specific qualifications sought included “at least three years of experience” and “Should have good communication skill”(sic).
Despite the high numbers of teachers sought, the school currently has over 200 students, around 60 of whom are in the preschool headed by Serkan’s wife, Saliha Akar.
Sources in the Labour and Immigration Ministries have confirmed that the school’s work permit quota for foreign staff stands at 97, however the school only employs 26 expatriates (Atayev noted that 18 of these were foreign teachers).
However figures from the Immigration Department show that Biz Atoll has brought 30 workers into the country on Lale’s behalf, and there have been scattered but unconfirmed reports of Lale’s work permit cards turning up in several construction sites around the Maldives. One immigration official, appearing confused, commented to Minivan News that Biz Atoll “might be a manpower agency.”
In one instance last year a work permit was reportedly issued to an Australian teacher called ‘Christopher John Wright’. Immigration records purportedly show that Wright entered the country, however no one of that name has ever worked at the school.
Moreover, staff members familiar with matter have revealed that ‘phantom teachers’ not working at the school are being paid salaries, “and there are other instances in which teachers who have departed are still being paid.”
The school counsellor, who also works as a chemistry teacher and has ‘English teacher’ on his work permit, “can’t speak English and doesn’t even know what psychology is”, according to another teacher.
“Meanwhile, the music teacher has a degree in psychology, and while there is no business teacher, a teacher with a degree in business and tourism is teaching Japanese.”
During an investigation of the school last year, the Department of Labour Relations in the Human Resources Ministry told Minivan News that some employees at Lale were working “in positions that were different to those specified on their visa.”
Further complaints regarding the qualifications of teachers from private parties prompted the Labour Ministry to write a letter to HRCM and the Education Ministry, to review teachers’ qualifications and academic accreditation.
Moments before leaving the office to be interviewed by HRCM regarding the case, Deputy Education Minister Dr Abdulla Nazeer confirmed that checking the qualifications of foreign teachers was the responsibility of an accreditation board that answered to the Ministry, and was charged with ensuring authenticity and comparison of credentials to their Maldivian equivalents.
“There will be substantial changes to the board from July, and in the future all teachers will be registered,” Dr Nazeer said, adding that several schools, “and not just Lale”, would be subject to “an ongoing monitoring program.”
“The ministry will not sit back to see a school mismanaged by private parties, without intervening,” he promised.
He said he had met a man who he understood was the school’s new principal, “and according to certificates submitted to the Ministry he has a masters degree and eight years experience at management level.”
V. Past abuse of students
Minivan News reported on January 14 that parents had made allegations that Serkan Akar and then-Deputy Principal Guvanchmyrat Hezretov were using physical force to discipline children.
“[The violence] has only been towards the boys, but they have done it in front of the girls as well,” a parent told Minivan News at the time. “A pupil was held by the neck and put up against the wall. Many pupils went home and told their parents they were so scared they nearly wet themselves.”
The parent of a 13 year-old boy told Minivan News that her son “would come home and tell me about the beatings. He told me it depended on how angry the principal was – sometimes a leather belt was used.”
Students were reportedly threatened that if they told their parents they would receive worse punishments.
Minivan News understands that Hezretov later fled to Sri Lanka after police obtained a warrant for his arrest. A supervision team sent by the Education Ministry to the school meanwhile interviewed parents and students about abuse at the school, and collected sufficient evidence to merit forwarding the case to police.
However, the case subsequently lapsed due to lack of evidence. Atayev emphasised that “there has never been corporal punishment at the school and there never will be,” and said he was not sure why the school was under attack.
“There were reports that some students were abused, but there was not much evidence,” said Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam from the Maldives Police Service, adding that since this incident, police had only received further complaints from one parent and child. “If child abuse [is occurring] there should be more than one,” he suggested. The investigation was unfinished, he emphasised.
Minivan News was sent a list of allegations in April by a distraught parent, who claimed that while the beatings had stopped following the intervention of the Education Ministry, “students who were abused then are now being abused verbally.”
“The principal uses filth and vulgar words when addressing [the students] and for any mischief done by any student, these students are blamed and given suspensions.”
A teacher at Lale told Minivan News that incidents of corporal punishment were believed to have disappeared following the departure of Hezretov.
“It’s important to note that the school has had a huge turnover of staff from 2009 to 2010, and from accounts of staff that were here last year, the environment of the school is much more positive and supportive on a number of levels,” he said.
“Several past teachers, including the previous vice-principal, are spoken about very openly as being over-aggressive and harsh disciplinarians. They have left the school, but unfortunately misrepresentations in the past have contributed to the current staff being dragged through the mud.”
A core group of teachers, he said, remained “extremely dedicated, hard working and flexible, and are working overtime to make the school successful.”
Other teachers noted that the mismanagement had forged a “strong rapport” between teachers and their students.
“They are clearly not running a school,” one teacher said of the school’s senior management.
“But they made the mistake of bringing in good teachers to try and make them look good to the outside world.”
(0)Dislikes
(0)Related Posts
Take Lale School back from Biz Atoll: HRCM to Education Ministry- Criminal Court fines former Lale principal Rf 200 (US$14) for assaulting children
- President Yameen announces rise in teachers’ salaries
- Teachers association to organise ‘black protest’
- Teachers Association threatens strike over pay discrepancies and education sector reform
- Teachers forced to work overtime without pay: Teachers Association
looks like a big tax evasion scam in Turkey and a scam of almost everything else being committed in the Maldives. Gov. should re tender the school and get a decent company to run it like Billabong.
Mr. JJ Robinson, this is an awesome piece of news…..or should I say report? It is heart wrenching to read of such inhumane acts going on in a nation which holds such a high regard for ethics and moral values. More than that knowing that a local company took over the school from the Education Ministry and handed over the lives and welfare of innocent little children to a gang of crooks. I hope, as most of you would, that the concerned authorities will take these matters seriously and take the proper action required and would not be “SOLD” to a bundle of cash. Else it is needless to say that the Human Rights seat which the Maldives gained recently will be taken away and bad name will follow the nation’s name. It is also my sincere hope that the political leaders of this young democracy keep track of what is happening with the Lale case and save this beautiful country from such dirt.
Three cheers Mr. JJ for a job well done! I also thank all the teachers, students, parents and the authorities who gave the information in such a transparent fashion. May god bless you all! We are waiting for more updates on this issue…
This company Biz Atoll should be held responsible for all the torture and harassment given to the students and staff of the school. As far as I know one Abdulla Jameel and his wife Nadhwa Sharafuddeen are the owners of this company. I have been following this case from late 2009 and have personally informed the Children’s Rights Department in the Gender Ministry, Labor authorities and the Education Ministry. If the heads at these places had taken a serious interest in the case, it would have been solved and proper education given to the students. As a father I can say that the students who had been abused there should be given professional counseling even. I myself am very close to one of the abused kids and I know what he is going through now. The Registrar of Companies at the Trade Ministry was also informed that Biz Atoll was breaking the Company laws of the Maldives, but till present nothing had been done about it. I wonder why some people hold a post when they obviously can’t do a good job of it. There is no name board of Biz Atoll anywhere in the whole of Maldives. This is just single and minor offense. What about human trafficking? WE CONDEMN ALL WHO COMMIT CRIMES; ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO CHILD ABUSE AND INHUMANE ACTS.
I think government must come up with a good strategy and mechanism to monitor private education institutions. In fact, under privatization policy private education institutions are getting on board. If not monitored well, soon or later people will not trust our education system and it might be possible to buy a fake certificate like what we see in some of our neighboring countries.
THANK YOU JJ ROBINSON... This is exactly the kind of thing I warned about foreign investment. YOU NEED to have better REGULATIONS and CHECK AND BALANCE.. this is scary story...Im afraid this is not the end of the story..
Re-Tender will not work out.. first create regulations and guide lines for these type of places.. Please This Gov needs to grow up .. Stop thinking about 5 years and look beyond that...
I agree with Ayya....and we have already seen fake certificates from the Turkish teaching in Lale......Ministry of Education needs to strengthen their monitoring and supervision...
im so happy. i was the earlier music teacher at lale and i hand over a complain ment last year. hope it was useful.
OMG... i am at a loss for words...
How can this have happened...
Why werent their backgrounds not checked properly?
Why has it taken so long for this to surface, specially since parents have been complaining of the abuse, both physical and verbal..for a while??
Can this principal and others responsible be tried in Raajje?
Who r the Maldivians responsible... who will have to be held accountable for the negligence etc?
...and seems like the Turks were also involved in human trafficking...
OUTRAGEOUS...AND INEXCUSABLE...
Send ‘Cengiz Cunta’ and the other uncouth Tartars or Turks or whoever they are back whence they came from.
Hey JJ, it will be interestin to probe into the levels of sexual abuse and bullying in Male schools including primary schools.
Dear Ahmed (commented at 10:11)
Do you know who was behind this lale' school deal? It was ex Education minister Zahiya (careless lady) and Ex planning minister Hamdun Hameed ...they never thought about the PPP run schools with necessary regulatory framework. Zahiya doesn't even know what PPP run school are...Zahiya was behind Imma (have crazy, uneducated) during parlimentary elections! Can somebody make sense to her?
This is an excellent piece of investigative journalism, Mr JJ Robinson.
Thank you.
The article shows how flimsy our regulations are and how easily this fact can be misused by someone.
I think Biz Atoll should be held responsible for their part.
Why were things neglected or ignored for so long? I know some investigations were done but I hear of no actions taken. That to me means things were neglected or ignored because the status quo at the school does not seem to have improved.
It is amazing that what seems like a huge racket can go on for one year without anyone being held responsible. And from the comment of one parent here, it looks like the school has done more harm than good.
The story of this school has highlighted one important fact to us: That we need clear cut regulations before we can jump onto a task like this.
It is not just the Education Ministry that lacks these regulations. We do not have them in other ministries either.
Before we think of inviting foreign companies to do business with us, or even charity work for that matter, we should make sure we have a proper system. Otherwise the foreigners can take full advantage and drain all the money or continue to take advantage of our flimsy regulations and make their pockets fatter, while we are asleep.
And if we are not really careful about these things, we may involuntarily and unknowingly end up in a bigger mess that we cannot escape from.
Do you think someone can get away with this sort of a thing in England? Of course not! That is because they have strict regulations for pretty much everything.
It is high time we start thinking and planning ahead to make the future of this country bright, stable and solid instead of a short term gain or achievement that will sustain the current boss (whoever that may be) in his current post.
We need some solid regulations.
this is indeed a spendid report and very investigative based on facts abd clues, i as maldivian journalits to read these and work well rather than complaining free media, people like hirigaa should learn from these articles, why can't they bring the issue's like this .. gang violence, drugs, security and safety of our nation and citizens
The horse should come before the cart. Not after the cart. Likewise business regulation should come BEFORE privatization. Not after.
People who advice the President to privatize the economy by signing MOUs (pieces of paper), do not understand that the proper regulation has to be put in place first.
This incident shows that the privatization policy is completely flawed.
This is quite clearly a scam and we need to investigate who was behind this on the Maldives side. Whoever signed the government side of the deal will clearly be part of the scam or else they would not just give the school to a company without a presence in real life. Investigate the finances of the people who signed this and pass the details to Turkish tax office. Prosecute the Maldivians and deport the Turks out.
Be mindful there are other 'businesses' who do the same. Maldives has been reported as a tax haven by many economic organisations.
How it works, in short, is Turkish businesses will donate money to a 'charity' and avoid having to pay tax on profit by the amount of the donation. Company tax rates can be 30 or 40 percent in some countries, so we are talking about millions of dollars for even medium companies. The charity's books will look fine to the tax office because they would have passed the funds to 'legitimate' schools in maldives, SriLanka etc. All you then have to do is pay excessive salaries to others in the scam who are disguised as 'teachers'. This money that would have been paid as tax to Turkish government have now been recouped back by the very scam leaders.
This can only be done in conjunction with countries who do not have tax laws and are not required to keep high standards of company accounts. It is really easy to fool authorities by fudging their books since there is no established culture and expertise to weed this sort of establishments out. But often there will be a local accomplice in the scam and it seems the signatories to this contract will be implicated in the scam.
well seems the previous government failed to do the necessary background checks. What a shocking thing to happen here.
I'm really word less.. I was an ealier secretary of Lale Youth International School..He (Mr. Serkan Akar ) thinks he's above everything and the government law.I would like to thank you all who has given the information in transparently.
I never forget this word he said to me
" will see you in the court "
To day i want to tell him
" good bye Maldives " Insha Allah
Great article...i hope this will give a message to the government to be cautious about privatising education and healthcare..this shows how fragile our system is to cope with these issues and in regulating the private sector..the costs are too great..the government needs to really wake up before its too late..
@ ishanka : I heard that your contract was over in the end of last year and you were not offered a renewal because you were not qualified enough! since the school being criticized of employing unqualified teachers; it seems they've started early to correct themselves by sending you !
Speechless!!!!!
There is this advertisement on Job Maldives Website in 2008...Its gotta Mobile Number also..can we try who answers? I tried and a Lady named Nadwa answred. She said Nadhwa!
Biz Atoll Pvt Ltd
5th Floor, G.Maavehi, Buruzu Magu
Male’ Maldives
Job Opportunity
Biz Atoll Pvt Ltd starting an International School in Maldives is looking for suitable candidates to fill the following posts
01 Assistant Principal Salary MRF 11500.00
02 Teacher – Turkish Language Salary MRF 8000.00
03 Teacher – Chemistry Salary MRF 10000.00
04 Teacher – Mathematics Salary MRF 10000.00
05 Teacher – Physics Salary MRF 10000.00
06 Teacher – Computer Salary MRF 10000.00
07 Teacher – Biology Salary MRF 10000.00
08 Teacher – Dhivehi Salary MRF 9000.00
09 Teacher – Islam Salary MRF 10000.00
10 Teacher – Social Studies Salary MRF 10000.00
11 Teacher – Sports supervisor Salary MRF 9000.00
12 Teacher – Science Salary MRF 10000.00
13 Administrator Salary MRF 7000.00
14 Secretary Salary MRF 4000.00
15 Maintenance Officer Salary MRF 4000.00
16 Office Assistant Salary MRF 35000.00
At least 3 years of experience
Pleasant personality
Physically fit, hardworking, self motivated
Should have good communication skill
Interested candidates are requested to send their application in the form of CV with attached educational certificates to the address:
5th Floor,
G. Maavehi, Buruzu Magu
Male’ Maldives
Ph: 777 4147, 334 4930
Email: [email protected]
The sad thing is that none of this leads anywhere. One will say no eveidence, others will say we cant do anything and our children, who we claim as our future, take all this impact.And its much more sad to see comments like "siyaasee kulavaru jehifa".Most of them view it like this when they dont see the inside of the whole story.We need to be more aware and more prompt in taking corrective action against such things.
These are cases where the death penalty should be applied. Those who abuse our children should not be shown mercy.
Great article about the school - perhaps we will not send Olivia here!!
@@ Ahmed! I was told by a teacher at Lale that Miss Ishanka was told that she would have a job there the next year (2010), and although Ghaazi School was requesting her to take their job as music teacher, she waited because Serkan told her that they needed her. At the last minute, Serkan gave her a reference letter saying he did not want her services. And she was paid only $200 saying it is half month salary and no airfare was even given......Is this how a Principal correct the place? Damn sick guy he is....!
I don’t think they have the guts to face this and answer. Where do this story start!!!! Ministry of Trade? Ministry of Education?
It was in the year 2008. A group from Education Ministry made a trip to Turkey which includes present DRP’s steering committee member Mrs. Zahiya Zareer (former Education minister) whose son is studying in an institution in Malaysia paying US $ 5000 per month, present parliament member of Mathiveri dhaairaa “so called IZZAIYTHERI menbaru Hussain Mohamed (former Deputy Minister of Education), present Director General at the Ministry of Education in charge of Statistics and Research Ahmed Shafeeu and present Director General Mohamed Saeed (the famous comedy series Lavaparty Saeed ) at the Ministry of Education now in charge of the Human Resources section. After this trip Fareedhiya School was handed over to a local company call Biz Atoll registered at Ministry of Trade while the Present P.A. leader and parliament member of Mulaku dhaairaa“so called IZZAIYTHERI menbaru Abdulla Yamin Abdul Gayoom. The directors of the so called Biz Atoll are Abdulla Jameel 75% shares and his wife Nadhuwa Sharafudeen 25% shares respectively. Nadhuwa works at Ministry of Education at EDC, and is the daughter of former Atoll Chief Sharafudeen Aboobakuru CLOSE friend of Abdulla Hameed, the former Atoll Minister. The agreement between Ministry of Education and Biz Atoll was signed by Education Deputy Minister Hussain Mohamed (present so called Izzaitheri menbaru) though there was a minister and assesed by Ahmed Shafeeu present Director General at Education Ministry. Shafeeu’s name was added to the contract in ‘handwriting’ while the whole contract was type-written. And this is the funny thing. On behalf of Biz Atoll “a Turkish guy named Cengiz Canta (position mentioned as “General Director”) had signed the contract. This was when the company had only 2 directors (Mr. and Mrs. Jameel). As far as the people at Lale know, Cengiz is the Chairman of the Turkish group handling Lale. So far no legal contract between Lale and Biz Atoll has not been found.
Now I wonder if there is anyone who can find the original people behind this scam…..
A quality piece of news....
This is a result of a concerted affort by a group of people who works to bring down the school. Most of the school parents are happy with the school. Children are happy. Only few parents might have complained. The education ministry's supervision team is satisfied with teaching and learning at the school. JJ is very good in making stories. Turkish business sponsored schools are everywhere in the world, even in United States, where CIA and FBI have the most robust monitoring mechanism. JJ please get evidence before accusing Biz Atoll. if evidence is not there then better not to spoil peoples names.
It is disturbing to hear that the Education Ministry is giving them an extra opportunity by signing a 'revised' version of their contract inspite of the abuse infliced on the children and apperent scam. As a parent of lale' when i say that we dont want this management to be given even an extra month, i believe i voice out what we all feel at Lale.how can education ministry renew the contract even for a month? we have seen what the education ministry can and will do in this case. parents have been complaining to the ministry about physical abuse since last year...the education ministry sends teams and makes reports...for what? waste public funds? Ministry of Education...we lale parents warn you...unless you get rid of this turks and hand this school to a reliable party by proper tender..we shall do whatever it, no one will stop us ..we are tired of ur reports and the principle challenging us by saying that nothing will happen and that he is well connected.
EDucation ministry officials should be brought to justice
biz atoll might be real good in hiding evidence.
Hi Ali, what kind of evidence do you want? first of all go and look for the company called "Biz Atoll"'s name board on any of the building in these islands or any sandbank of Maldives!!!! 2nd what qualification dose the great principal Mr. Serkan Akar have? If you want more evidence regarding the Turks teachers ask for their teaching certificates.
Ah teaching!! you could ask grade 9 students who are doing science how many sessions do they have at the science labs this year until now?
Yes of cause there are great expatriate teachers at the school, from USA,Austria,Australia,India,Japan and Sri Lanka. The Maldivians who are working as teachers and assistant teachers have required qualification. But Turks hmmmmmmmmmm what to say... You go and check...
Oh regarding expatriates! Biz Atoll have 130 quotas from labor Ministry, they have brought 30 expatriates in the name of LALE school out of these expatriates 16 are to bee seen in the school . where are others? Aren't this human trafficking? Please Ali go and look for them you will find evidence by yourself esquire from school Mr. Suleyman Yataev or from Biz Atoll Jameel mob.7773818 or Nadhuwa at EDC Ministry of Education.
Time for Anni to resign.....making a mess of education and health sectors.....Anni isthiufaaa.....empty promises from stupid power hungry Anni. Anni faibaaa.....
This news has been out for sometimes but not to this effect. "Sandhaanu" did have an article to this effect but not as professional as this!
Thanks to J. J. Robinson for taking a step forward towards this kind of journalism!
I am sure something good will come out of this report though not to the effect many would expect!
Because of "the close knit" nature of our social fabric, expected result and efficient result is not possible!
A COMPROMISE to suite the situation has to be often brought about!
This eventually lead to unseen results which becomes so cancerous that it is difficult to be cured, castrated and or got ridden for ever!
The more the merrier JJR! Thanks!
I used to be a student at LYIS and there is a huge mistake in this article it clearly states that only one parent and one child complained about abuse. Last year two policemen came to the school and me and a group of 8 students told the police privately that the teachers were abusing us. No action was taken by the police! LALE SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN!!!!!!!!!
Mi kamaky anni aah behey kameh noon dho dhen. maumoon mi school hulhuvaa zaahiyaa zareer permit dheefa ehaa rangalha school belii eh noon.
Hey Nars DO NOT MAKE THIS AS A POLITICAL ISSUE it involves our own kids and their future is important to all of us MALDIVIANS.
i visited the school Lale. it is a perfect sample among other turkish schools in the pacific. maldivian people must not harm the eldership between turkey and maldives. this is a game of a foreigner journalist. think about it again.
1) Yes, great that Minivan News is reporting on this and in detail. But the article is quoting many allegations (ie. not proven, just opinion) from anonymous sources - this in itself is not necessarily bad, sometimes it is the best one can do if lacking evidence. However, why would the journalist (editor, hence, would set standards for the rest of her/his team) quote allegations which can damage individuals' reputations which are not necessarily relevant - for example, “Meanwhile, the music teacher has a degree in psychology, and while there is no business teacher, a teacher with a degree in business and tourism is teaching Japanese.” Maybe these teachers have other qualifications that allow them to teach more than one area of expertise - it is quite common to have multiple areas of expertise......
2) This article has discrepancies and could be more clearly written. 33 teachers were out of 138 staff advertised for. However, the article does not state the total teachers CURRENTLY employed. Then the next sentence says there is a high number of teachers sought for a current student population of 200 (of which 60 are preschool). Ummm, maybe the advertisements were based on anticipated student numbers which were above 200.....but CURRENTLY it is only 200. So, how many teachers really are employed now, and is the current number high for the current student population? If the journalist can cite the relevant figure, then the journalist can validly point out this is a "high" number which then supports the supposed "visa racket" angle of this article. If you can prove then great. If you can't use the relevant figures, then as a journalist why allege? Just report others' allegations please.
3) I thought Minivan News was aspiring to high levels of journalism. Then why use sensationalist language such as "revealed" when it is an unproven allegation? And why use quotes (to point out just one of many in this article) such as "The school counsellor, who also works as a chemistry teacher and has ‘English teacher’ on his work permit, “can’t speak English and doesn’t even know what psychology is”, according to another teacher." Well who is this other teacher? Why is their opinion so correct? Prove it. Did you allow the school counsellor to rebut this comment, or you just think it is professionally acceptable as a journalist and editor to allow the school counsellor's name to be publicly dragged through the mud due to the way you have written this article?
I have very little knowledge of Lale other than what I have read in the news. I agree that such serious issues need to be reported on and it is good Minivan News has done so. However, I am annoyed that Minivan News - which has alot of potential and which some Maldivian journalists (given few have formal journalism training, for most English is their 2nd language, and Minivan claims it is objective/balanced/professional) and many of your Maldivian readers look to this media organisation as a good example - should be a less than adequate example.
Regards
Jade
What is your comments policy Minivan News? Why are comments such as ahmad on Fri, 14th May 2010 2:26 PM allowed? This type of comment seems defamatory and unprofessional. Shouldn't comments that are use name-calling (at least of other readers) and libel be omitted?
It has been quite sometime that a group of people started working to bring down the school. The same group is continuously complaining to education ministry, police, labour ministry, human rights commission. They complain everyday. There are many good sides about lale' and most of the students are very happy to be there. They have the opportunity to participate in international events a lot more than other schools get. The school has very good equipments for technology aided teaching. There are very dedicated and hardworking teachers there, who spend all of their time for the school and children. It is strange that JJ can only see one side of the school. School has many benefits to maldives and i am sure over the time people will realize this. Turkish people are our brothers and they are within 10 biggest economies in the world.
I saw the organization of the the children on april 23rd. the celebration of childrens' day. it was wonderful. all people including parents and the students were smiling during the walking around with the banners. it shows that majority is happy about the school. I believe that a minor group has negative thoughts about the school and I see that people wrote quotes to this post one by one. please think again with your conscience
Thank you Mr. JJ Robinson, for bringing up such social issues to the front. These kinds of issues are not to be taken lightly...in most cases, there are no smoke without fire so there has to be some fact to the numerous allegations.
Even if members of the previous government were responsible for bringing the Turks here & not checking the credentials of the people involved etc, the school was officially opened in May 2009 and since then, it is up to the present government to investigate the complaints and accusations by the students & parents.
The police couldn't do anything because of lack of evidence...would anyone send an invitation the police prior to committing a crime? It is very apparent that this school is a front for something fishy...tax evasion scams are committed all over the world.
Hopefully this will be a lesson in privatisation for the present government & they will strengthen the regulations & conduct background checks / qualifications of the parties involved.
@Yasseen on Sun, 16th May 2010 5:44 AM.
Did you in the past see any Maldivian weeping on the streets of Male' because of anything?
Do you or did you ever see any Maldivian begging for food like we see in some nearby countries? If at all it would be one in a million case!
Our peoples are quiet ignorant or rather not bothered about social values until it come to excessively extreme limits or even until it is too late!
It is possible to believe that these kids may have been given a "magic portion" before their performance! I would not for a second doubt these dubious characters having such tricks up their sleeves!
OR are you not one amongst them not to see realities of life?
Another mess done by MDP when they came to power. They privatised this school putting our children at risk of been misused and sexually abused. The school was perfectly running under the Ministry of Education of the previous [Qayoom's] government. Nothing of this sort happened. MDP should know how to manage and monitor these kind of things. How can they? They themselves are a bunch of useless inexperienced bullocks running a country like mak schizophrenics.
@@ Ibrahim yasir on Sun, 16th May 2010 2:13 PM Just wanted to clear up a misunderstanding that you have Mr. Yasir. It was NOT in anyway MDP which gave away the school to this company. Lale School opened in May 2008. Who was in power then? Former Education Minister Ms. Zahiya Zareer of the Qayyoom regime was the one who most benefited from this operation.
But whichever regime was involved, it is now the present government's responsibility to see that justice is brought here. These kids' future is in our hands. Forget politics and think of our own blood. Don't try to push in politics everywhere please.
Maldives help us Lale Students we want to be un abused and educated
If you have seen LALE School or visited you can easily feel the difference from other schools or education institutions in this country. With the students and staff of the LALE is unique for this country. In this article mostly all of the words are used not reflecting the truths about the school. When we talk about the school honestly LALE school is a school of the 21.century but i dont wanna see other schools not developed but we have to see the facts about real life unfortunately other schools in Maldives still living in the 19. century technology. And this article just generated to show this schools staff and students bad unfairly. This is very disappointing situation for this country.
Hi Gladman, yes the school loks like that and the Europian,American, Asian and the Maldivian teachers are superb and their work and the certificates are real other than the Turks have mostly fake and forged foto copies..... this is wat we don't want in that school to be the discrimination of the staff there. for a Turks living allowance is at US $ 1000 and others at 500 or 250 as for the appeared colors.. pls you just call or get a word from them and comment on these articalse... hope you will do this .....
Hi...I tried the contact with the accountant of the school and he told me real numbers are not like that about Turk staff.Almost same amount is taken without discrimination to any human being. And also he told me we see all humanity same,equal like teeth of a comb. And he added some Turks are not taking any single laari they are volunteer teachers who really dedicated for themselves to education.After this conversation i think we should think twice before blame any single person or institution if it is not correct we will be having their sins according to Islam understanding. That is all that i can say. Thanks...
hi Gladman You contacted the accountant cum Computer teacher? oh yes the accountant who don't know there should be a budget to run an institution or any place,don't know what a salary sheet is? and by the way do you know that their wives or husbands "can not" work in the institution on a dependent visa without proper registration at immigration voluntary or any means.check these from immigration and lobour ministry...as equal as a "teeth fallen comb" check maths teaching cpl (Turks) living allowance that to American cpl primary teachers and 2 young lady's salary working in the office one of them holding diploma certificate in accounts And the SO CALLED ACCOUNTANT WHAT CERTIFICATE HE HOLDING? ...hope you would.. I WANT THIS PLACE TO BE PROFESSIONAL'S PLACE not just relatives place ...
I know their is lot of excellent and good collages and schools in Turkey and their teachers and lectures holding original certificates ...these goons have ruin the Turks name too...
Hi TheGladman, ey thee ehkala ehkolhah thibey 6 beleniverin thereyn ekaku dho. Turkey ah dhanee kon iraku tha. Kobaa laari eh vejje tha. 500 lee fund furuneetha. Thee hama ekani amilla edhumaigen ulhey meehun. Dharin ah ragalhakh ulhey bayeh nun.