Saudi Gazette report DAMMAM — The Ministry of Education is taking action to avert a temporary crisis caused by the rising numbers of teachers taking early retirement. The ministry's plan is to hire new graduates to fill the vacancies created by retiring employees, Al-Hayat newspaper reported. According to a ministry source, more than 4,000 male and female teachers have so far approached the ministry this year with requests for early retirement. Most of these teachers sought early retirement as a measure to cope with the soaring cost of living. Having a pension and job in the private sector would help them lead a better life, the source said. According to reports, about 90 percent of the teachers and 85 percent of administrative staff have applied for early retirement after competing 25 years of service, the minimum number of years a public sector employee must serve in order to be eligible for a pension. The exodus of teachers will benefit young men and women jobseekers who have graduated in education, said the source. The ministry has already started recruitment procedures in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs. As part of the new educational plan for which Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah allocated SR80 billion, those who graduated under the foreign scholarship program will also be appointed as teachers. “There has been a continuous 5 percent increase in the number of teachers who seek early retirement every year, and this provides the ministry an opportunity to hire new graduates,” the source said. In the beginning of the current Hijri year, the ministry issued a circular asking those teachers who want early retirement to complete the procedures through the ministry's website. The ministry noted this move would facilitate the hiring of more new graduates. Last year, the ministry approved early pension requests from 4,970 teachers, including 2,997 women. Another 150 teachers resigned from service during the period. According to reports, a total of 12,131 Saudis sought early retirement from government service during the first six months of the year and women accounted for 25 percent of this number.
