The Ministry of Education is considering providing Saudi parents with annual support of SR2,000 a head to enroll their sons and daughters in private schools, a recent report in Al-Eqtisadiah business daily said. The step aims to reduce pressure on the government schools. I have no doubt that some of the greedy private school owners will increase their fees to absorb this support before it has become a reality. This is not a new practice for us. We are accustomed to avaricious traders opening their mouths to swallow any financial increment the citizens may get. We have seen this in the recent salary increase for government employees. The school owners will not be different from these greedy merchants, especially as several of them invested in education without being aware of its noble message. Therefore, both traders and school owners represent the same side of the coin. I sincerely hope that the ministry will stop this financial support because the parents will not benefit from it. Instead, the ministry should exert pressure on private school owners to reduce tuition fees by at least SR2,000. In any case, this support will not make any difference as school tuition has reached astronomical figures without being based on any classification or assessment. The private schools will continue to be greedy. They will also continue to increase their tuition every year or even sometimes every six months.
