JEDDAH — A number of educationalists believe that about 60 percent of the private and international schools in the Kingdom may be obliged to up their tuition fees in order to be able to cope with the rising operational costs that have increased by about 25 percent this year. "The operational costs have increased tremendously this year. This may make it necessary for the private and international schools to hike their fees," said Malik Talib, chairman of the committee on international and private schools in the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI). He called for giving the schools the right to take the decision of increasing their fees instead of making it a condition to obtain the approval of the Ministry of Education. "This should not be the sole domain of the ministry. Every school should have the right to estimate its costs and therefore decide its fees according to the quality of service they provide to the students," he said. Talib, who is also a member of the National Committee on Education (NCE) at the Saudi Council of Chambers, believes that the whole matter boils down to the theory of supply and demand. "It is up to the parents to accept or reject the new fees structure. They have the option to transfer their children to government schools or other cheaper private or international schools," he said. He expected the rising costs of operation to affect not only the big schools but also the smaller ones, which constitute between 40-50 percent of the private schools in the Kingdom. "The small entities with fees ranging between SR6,000 and SR7,000 will have to increase their fees otherwise they will be obliged to quit the sector," he warned. Talib expected that it would be the big private and international schools in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam that might increase the fees. He said the costs of operation increased due to the high salaries of the Saudi and expatriate teachers, the tiny number of available qualified and professional Saudis and the decision making it obligatory on the schools to provide medical insurance not only to the teachers but to their families as well. Dakheel Allah Al-Johani, member of the NCE, said in addition to the rising costs of operation, the government's subsidy to the schools is very low — at the rate of SR100 annually for every student. "A private school with 1,800 students will only get SR50,000 from the government every year which is nothing," he said. According to him, this subsidy, though extremely little, is not paid to the international schools. Johani said there are between 500,000 and 600,000 students in private schools out of about 5.5 million students in public schools. The annual fees of the private schools generally range between SR6,000-SR20,000 with investments of close to SR12 billion. They have about 60,000 men and women teachers of whom about 70 percent are Saudis.
