Pakistan ambassador sure school row will end

Jamil Khan expressed confidence that a row concerning the management of two embassy schools would be resolved soon.

ABU DHABI // Pakistan's ambassador to the UAE expressed confidence that the education minister, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, would help resolve a row concerning the management of two embassy schools.

"His Highness will help us in getting this matter resolved," said Jamil Khan after meeting the minister this week.

The management in charge of the Khalifa bin Zayed Pak-Arab School and the Pakistan Community School in Musaffah was ousted earlier this week by their Emirati partner, Khalifa al Naeemi, who owns 51 per cent of the schools. The reasons for the move were not clear.

Mr Khan said that the "sudden revocation" had left a "vacuum of management" at the schools, which between them have around 2,000 students. Despite that, both schools have continued to operate.

"Under the law, the embassy cannot run the school," local sources disclosed, adding that the Pakistan Embassy in Abu Dhabi had been running the schools because of the country's strong diplomatic relations with the UAE.

Mr Naeemi assumed the role of local partner last year, under an understanding with the embassy that it would retain practical control, according to the ambassador.

Mr Naeemi was unavailable for comment.