The official announcement was discreetly made in a typed and cyclostyled note long after most of academia had heard of it. The note was stapled between the plastic covers of the school diary that the nursery students carried home on Wednesday. Darryl Bloud, principal of St James? School for seven years, was taking leave of the institution and the city. From January 1, 2000, the school is likely to be headed by Father John Perambulath of St James? Church, who will officiate till Bloud?s successor is chosen. A source in the Church of North India, which runs the school, said the countrywide search had finally narrowed down a shortlist of two candidates. Both are vastly experienced teachers and school administrators. One is a principal in a Calcutta school. The other is with a public school in Uttar Pradesh. Calcutta?s loss is Dubai?s gain. Bloud is to take charge of Modern High School in the West Asian city. He follows in the footsteps of John Mason who, too, was principal of St James? before heading for Modern High. Mason is now principal of Doon School. If Calcutta is grooming principals for expatriate Indian schools, it is because it has not been able to give merit its due in teaching, as in other professions. ?There has been an exodus from the teaching profession in Calcutta to the Gulf countries which have a large Indian community and good ICSE and CBSE schools. Why not? The amenities and compensation are very good there,? says Neil O?Brien, chairman of the Council of Indian School Certificate Examinations. Bloud agrees. Dubai?s Modern High, he says, ?is all that I have dreamed St James will one day have.? His greatest regret as he packs his bags is that he leaves before completing two projects. The first ? ?St James? gift to Calcutta in the new millennium? ? will be a new school block that will add one section to every class, enabling the school to take on the rolls 630 more students. The second is an Olympic-style swimming pool. Though emotionally overwhelmed by the farewell calls from students, staff, parents and peers, Bloud makes it a point to mention that he will have an ?excellent salary? in Dubai. ?It is important for people in Calcutta to realise that they need a paradigm shift in the way they think. Why should Dubai hire teachers and principals from St James?? Why can?t St James? hire staff from Modern High, Dubai? I would like to ensure corporate-style pay packets for my staff because they give their best.Why is it that not many senior students are attracted to the profession of teaching?? Bloud?s successor will be in the position that Bloud himself was in when he took over as principal in 1992. He had to live up to predecessor John Mason?s reputation. Mason had turned St James? around to be rated among the very best of ICSE schools in the country but one that did not sacrifice sensitivity to special needs in the hunt for academic glory. Days after Bloud had taken over in 1992, a parent rushed into his office and nearly broke down: ?Sir, my son, your student is dying.? Bloud learnt that the student of class VII was born with one kidney. That, too, was failing. A transplant that would cost Rs 2.3 lakh was needed urgently. Bloud called a meeting of the staff that day. The next, he convened a special assembly of the students through whom he informed parents. One parent who worked for an advertising agency designed an evocative poster. When the week ended on Friday, the school had mobilised Rs 4.3 lakh. The student?s surgery was taken care of. The balance was used to fund the expensive medicines he needed. After he returned from Chennai, students of class XI were asked to tutor him at home. Four years later, he passed higher secondary with 85 per cent marks and, based solely on merit, Sumantra Choudhury gained admission into St Xavier?s College. As Bloud heads out, he has this piece of advice to his successor: ?Be firm, but gentle, yet not so gentle that risks being misconstrued as weakness. Be open and be transparent.? Bloud leaves for Dubai in January. His daughter, Amanda, a student of Class XI in La Martiniere for Girls, will stay a year in the hostel till her ISC examinations. His wife, Amelia, an executive with Goodricke, will follow him shortly. When Bloud first sought the school board?s permission to leave, he was refused. The resignation was accepted after he told them he was determined. But Neil O?Brien, who has known Bloud closely, is still not convinced. ?He is young, only 45. He should be back in Calcutta in three to five years.? Darryl Bloud, teacher for 23 years, is not so sure.