RIYADH: Many of the Kingdom's private schools are raising their registration fees for the next academic year by over 30 percent, Al-Hayat Arabic daily reported Sunday. An education specialist told the newspaper that many investors, particularly outside the major cities, were considering withdrawing from the private sector as running costs increase. Al-Hayat said that the increase in fees is a knock-on effect from the Royal Orders earlier this year introducing a minimum wage of SR5,000 for Saudi teachers. Yousif Al-Shafi, Chairman of the National Committee for Private Education and Training at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, has previously put forward a proposal for the government to subsidize each teacher's salary with SR2,000 to bring the SR2,000 paid by the Human Resources Fund and the same sum provided by the school up to a total teacher salary of SR6,000. One parent blamed schools for colluding to raise registration fees for the next academic year, which sees some fees rise to around SR3,000. “The best schools will charge even higher fees than that,” Muhammad Al-Zahrani said. “The school owners do this every year, and the Ministry of Education should step in to limit fees to match the quality of school, as the schools already receive assistance from the ministry and the Human Resources Fund for teacher salaries. The amount schools actually pay to teachers in salaries has not changed, which shows that they are just being greedy.” Ibrahim Al-Salim, Chairman of the Private Education Committee at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), said the rise in fees was a result of the increased teachers' salaries. “The ministry only gives SR70 per pupil a year and schools are classified into four categories in which a third of all schools receive no assistance,” Al-Salim told Al-Hayat. “I'd expect around 30 percent of investors in the sector to pull out, most notably in small towns and villages.” He said that all indications pointed towards a “significant movement of pupils” from private to government-run schools because parents are unable to afford the new fees. “The state spends per pupil at government schools in cities SR15,000 a year, while a pupil in small settlements and remote areas costs SR90,000,” he said. “The government should support private schools in terms of both pupils and teachers as private education saves the state over SR10 billion per year, an average of SR20,000 per pupil, 500,000 of whom study in private education.” Al-Salim said that lessons could be learned from other countries where teachers are appointed to the government and then assigned places at both private and public schools. “That would provide job stability for all teachers,” he said. According to Al-Hayat, the Ministry of Education has no influence on the fees and expenses of private schools, its role is limited to ensuring that educational programs and curricula are correctly followed.
