JEDDAH — In reaction to a decision by the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) to raise the salaries of Saudi teachers in private schools to SR5600, the majority of the schools have resorted to increasing their registration fees by up to 40 percent. The move comes even as the HRDF has agreed to bear 50 percent of the teachers' salaries. The schools made a similar decision at the start of the last academic year when they increased the registration fees by 30 percent. In effect, the total increase in school fees in less than two years reaches as high as 70 percent. Informed sources told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the owners of private schools held a series of secret meetings before they came up with the decision on the pretext that the rise in salaries has inflated their budgets. The Ministry of Education said it has nothing to do with the raise in registration fees in private schools because it does not have jurisdiction over these schools, which are part of private sector investments. Okaz/Saudi Gazette phoned Abdulrahamn Al-Haqbani, Chairman of the National Committee for the Private Education and Training at the Saudi Council of the Chambers, twice for comments on the issue but he did not respond.
