JEDDAH — Expatriate families living in Makkah and Madinah have long complained that they face significant problems accessing quality educational opportunities for their children. With most international schools and private colleges located in the Kingdom's larger cities - Jeddah for Western Province residents, Dammam/Alkhobar in the Eastern Province and Riyadh in the central region - expatriate families in smaller cities have few options when it comes to primary, secondary and higher education. While many families are able to send their children to expensive private schools in the Kingdom and abroad, middle and lower income households often struggle to enroll their children in schools that offer rigorous courses that adequately prepare children for success later in their academic careers. “Lack of secondary schools in many cities in the Kingdom is a problem for most families particularly middle and lower income ones,” said Haifa Suleiman, an Indian expatriate living in Makkah who sends both of her children to the International Indian School in Jeddah, a commute that takes nearly an hour, each way. While expatriates who live reasonably close to Jeddah often send their children to the city to avail of its relatively-high quality schools, others like Marwa Abdullah, a Pakistani expatriate who lives in Madinah with her three children, are unable to do so due to the long distance between the two cities. “Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia must take into account the risks of secondary education in the kingdom. Typically, as the child moves into higher classes, he or she requires decent education and facilities to graduate. Most cities in the Kingdom lack international schools and private colleges for expatriate students who do not speak Arabic,” explained Haris Ashraf, a Pakistani who lives in Taif with his wife who is a Canadian citizen. “I have no choice but to send my children with my wife to Canada so they can pursue their higher education. It's a hard decision but we had to make it. I want the best education for my children and our choices here are very limited.” Unable to afford the tuition at the few private colleges and universities in the Kingdom that admit expatriate students, most children go back to their home countries upon completing high school, a move which requires them to be adequately prepared to pass college entrance exams in their native countries. And while many expatriate students thrive in schools in the Kingdom, they are unable to carry on their academic success in their native countries' highly-competitive and foreign education system. “I have two daughters and one of them is ready for high school. We don't have an International Indian School in Madinah so my wife and I decided she would move with the girls to India and stay there until they graduate but things didn't work out as we had planned. My daughter went to an all-girls school here and was unable to adjust to a coeducation environment. Then there was also the problem of adjusting to a fast-paced, highly-competitive education system,” said Mahmood Syed, an Indian engineer living in Madinah. Unable to settle in her home country, Syed's daughter returned to the Kingdom last month. He and his wife are now considering moving to Jeddah so their children can continue their education. “I just wish we had more options when it comes to finding credible schools and colleges for our children. All of my friends in the Kingdom, regardless of nationality, face similar problems,” he added. Ammar Asad, an Indian IT assistant who works in Makkah, has three children of school-going age. Two of them go to the International Indian School in Jeddah but Asad said he can no longer afford paying tuition and is preparing to move back to Indian with his family. “I do not have a high-paying job. I make enough to pay rent and cover my family's basic needs. I have three children who are all going to school and I cannot afford to send all of them to the Indian school in Jeddah – the tuition, transportation and other costs are just too much. I cannot live without my family; I earn money for them, not to live without them,” he said. “I wish we had more schools and colleges here. I want my children to live here and graduate from Saudi Arabia. This is where they were born so this is home for them.”
