It is not fair that male and female teachers in private schools continue to be victims of the current argument between the Ministry of Education and the owners of private schools. The argument is similar to the philosophical question: “Which came first - the chicken or the egg?” The Ministry of Education has said that it will not give financial aid and entitlements to private schools until these schools have achieved the required percentage of Saudization of their teaching and administrative staff and have raised the salaries of Saudi teachers. The owners of private schools, on the other hand, say that they can only Saudize jobs and raise salaries if the Ministry of Education gives them financial aid and entitlements. Private schools will not get any aid this year from the Ministry of Education until they present a certificate attested by the Labor Office which certifies that the school has achieved the required percentage of Saudization. Annual financial aid given to private schools by the Ministry starts at SR100,000 and can increase or decrease based on certain standards. Regardless of whether the owners of private schools are serious and truthful about Saudizing jobs and raising salaries and regardless of whether the Ministry of Education can expedite the bureaucratic process of giving financial aid to the owners of these schools, any delay on the part of either party will result in a disruption of the educational process. This disruption will have a negative effect on the work being done by the teaching and administrative staff of private schools. What is, however, worse is that ultimately it is the male and female students of these schools who will suffer the most. The Saudization of jobs in the nation's private sector is an important matter and the Nitaqat system has been put into effect to see to it that companies are given incentives to meet Saudization quotas and penalties if they do. However, the Saudization of jobs in private schools is in some ways even more important because it affects the nature of the educational process in terms of the identity of education and meaning of citizenship. It translates this meaning into educational programs that are capable of inculcating the values of citizenship and the sense of national belonging in the minds of future generations. If financial aid from the Ministry of Education will encourage the Saudization of the teaching staff of private schools, it should not be delayed for any reason whatsoever. __
