The prohibitive fees of private schools are the main reason why expatriates are seeking a shift. The fact that families usually have more than one child is another factor.

A case in point is a Jordanian mother who tried without success to get her two girls enrolled at public schools this year. She even resorted to begging administration officials at the Jeddah education department’s women's section to let her eldest daughter in after her application for both girls was rejected.

She claimed this year things are much more complicated compared to earlier years. The woman was forced to consider public schools because of the high costs of private schools.

She claimed that it is easier for boys to get accepted in public schools compared to girls.

The administrators at the girls section, when contacted about the expatriates’ plight, said that it was not their decision to make.

“We have received many applications from expatriates, but we cannot accept them because the public schools are already full. Apart from regular students, we had to accommodate transfer students who were studying in schools affected by the Jeddah floods last year,” said one administrator.

The Jordanian mother is not the only case. A large number of expatriates, including those from Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Ethiopia and Sudan, were seen clustering at a hall so they could apply for a place.

However, once they arrive at the administrators’ desks, their application for a seat at a public school is inevitably denied.

An Egyptian mother, who was trying to transfer her daughter from one public school to another, was told by an administrator: “You should be glad that you got her a seat at a public school. Just look around at how many expatriates here are unable to find any place for their children.”

A woman, who said a principal told her that her daughter has been accepted at a public school, was told by an administrator that the child could not be enrolled unless written approval is sent from the education department to the school.

Women along with their children were still continuing to visit the department until the third week of the school year in the hope that things might change.

These expatriates are now left with only two options. Either their children miss out this year, or they are enrolled in private schools, forcing them to strictly manage their budgets so they can make ends meet.

“I might be able to afford a cheap private school for my daughter who is in grade four, but I cannot afford education for my other girl who is now in intermediate level,” said a Syrian mother.

Another woman expressed her fear that if her daughter is not accepted this year, she might be prevented from pursuing her schooling because the department of education will not enroll her next year if she is one year older than her classmates.

“If we had the money we would definitely put our children in private schools, but these are our circumstances,” said the woman, who has been in the Kingdom her entire life.

According to the latest decision of the Ministry of Education, the Kingdom allows 15 percent of students in public schools to be expatriates.

Priority is given to Saudis and children whose one parent (generally the mother) is a Saudi, followed by the children of expatriates working in the public sector and non-Saudis born in the Kingdom. Expatriates who have recently arrived in the Kingdom are right down the pecking order.

Arab News contacted the education department in Jeddah and the public relations department in Riyadh for a comment, but no one was available.