You receive an e-mail or an official letter from your children's private or international school informing you of its decision to raise tuition fees for the second or third year in a row. Such messages are a constant source of worry for parents who ask: what options do we have in Saudi Arabia for obtaining a quality modern education for our children? Every school has its own way of raising its fees. One school will increase the registration fees for newcomers which may reach SR10,000. This amount is not part of the tuition and is not included in the installment payments. And the fee is levied despite the fact that the Ministry of Education has strongly warned all private and international schools against imposing such registration fees. Another school will ask parents to pay for the reservation of a seat for their children for the next academic year while a third will increase its tuition on the pretext of maintaining the level of quality education that it supposedly provides including the syllabuses, teachers and other educational activities. A fourth school may up its fees to be able to pay its building rent and to increase the salaries of its teachers. A fifth may resort to the excuse of the new residence and work visa regulations including the high costs of the transfer of iqamas. There always seems to be a good reason for schools to increase their fees which can now be as much as SR20,000 to SR70,000 in some private and international schools in the Kingdom. The Ministry of Education has given its approval for schools to raise their fees at the rate of SR1,000 per student from the next academic year. According to the local press, the ministry has given its approval because it says that the increase is commensurate with the “mechanisms of the free market”. The ministry said it understands that schools may incur losses due to the new system of work visas and iqamas. The general education in government schools is still far from the expectations and aspirations of parents who have little choice but to pay the fees asked by private schools for their children's education. However, while the decision to raise school fees may be understandable, what is hard to understand is the existence of a monopoly which a few schools seem to have on “quality education.” The number of schools that provide quality modern education in large towns and cities has dwindled. These schools employ nontraditional methods of teaching which will encourage students to read and acquire more knowledge. They focus on developing the student's skills and humanistic values through extracurricular activities which help to prepare students for success in the future. The long lists of students waiting to join such schools make it possible for these institutions to constantly increase their fees. Parents who are not willing to accept the high fees are free to take their children to other less-quality private or government schools. As a result, quality education becomes the sole right of the rich who are able to pay school fees no matter how much they may be. Although the Kingdom spends large amounts on general education, government schools are unable to cope with the requirements of modern education. They still depend on rote learning and memorization. They provide no additional subjects, such as foreign languages, sports, drama or music. The search for quality education has become an obsession for Saudi families who are keen to develop the educational skills of their children so that they will be able to succeed in the modern world. Many of these families make the education of their children their top priority. However, with the high fees charged by private and international schools, Saudi parents are in a real dilemma. They cannot afford to register their children in these schools and at the same time they are not willing to take them to government schools which have a poor educational track record. As a result, many people have come to believe that quality education in Saudi Arabia is only for the rich.
