By Peter Alagos/Business Reporter

The Philippine School Doha (PSD) will start afternoon classes from Sunday for around 150 students who were displaced by the closure of the Asian Integrated School (AIS) earlier this month.
PSD principal Dr Alex Acosta said the management has completed preparations to accommodate the students after the Supreme Education Council (SEC) gave PSD the clearance to start afternoon classes.
“The school, particularly the faculty, is now ready to teach these students. All the necessary preparations have been completed, including the schedules to be observed in the afternoon,” Acosta told Gulf Times yesterday.
Last month, Acosta said SEC officials visited the PSD campus for inspection. Shortly after, he said the school was given the clearance to proceed with the afternoon classes. Initially, Acosta said the tentative date for the start of new class schedules was July 19.
But on July 17, all PSD students observed Eid holidays with a week-long vacation starting July 19. Regular class hours, including the new afternoon schedule, will be followed starting July 26.
Acosta said the afternoon classes will be held from 12noon to 4:30pm, with 90% of the students coming from AIS. A small portion of the students accepted in the afternoon classes were those who were included in PSD’s waiting list.
The principal said only a handful of AIS students was distributed to the morning classes. However, many pre-school and primary level students form the bulk of the transferees taking the afternoon schedule, he added.
Acosta said two classes were created for Kindergarten 2, one class each for Grade 1 and Grade 3, and another two classes for Grade 2.
Also, Acosta said PSD did not hire new faculty. Instead, the management gave extra loads to teachers assigned in the afternoon and will be paid overtime.
“Officially, our teachers only work until 3pm. Also, teachers holding two advisory classes are paid twice and will also be paid for the extra loads and overtime,” he explained.
But Acosta said the afternoon classes “will be in full blast” by next year, adding that PSD would be hiring more teachers next year in anticipation of the increase in the number of students and continuation of the afternoon schedule.
Earlier, Acosta said the PSD management was expecting as many as 200 transferees from AIS but only around 150 were able to enrol with the school.
According to the school official, some parents had sent their children back home to the Philippines, while others were able to enrol them in other international schools in Qatar.
Jason Iyas, the principal of the Philippine International School Qatar (PISQ), also told Gulf Times earlier that PISQ also co-ordinated with SEC officials for the acceptance of AIS transferees.
The transition to PISQ was also made possible through the assistance of AIS parent-teacher association president Joseph Rivera, Iyas said. Earlier this month, Iyas said PISQ held a week-long “priority enrolment” for AIS students.

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