They drew attention to the decree issued by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah earlier to make all teachers with experience permanent.

As far as some teachers are concerned, the royal decree is yet to be implemented fully.

Speaking to Arab News, the teachers claimed that their last meeting with the minister of education abruptly ended within five minutes and they did not get an opportunity to air their grievances. The minister also failed to give them any assurances, they noted.

Abeer, a teacher with two years experience, said that she was on maternity leave when her appointment order was issued. “The authorities gave permanent contracts to young women who did not have even two weeks of experience in the teaching field. Some of the young women who were appointed did not have a substantial teaching background,” she said.

According to Abeer, experienced teachers including herself are not getting even basic rights such as vacation, as the contracts they sign do not entitle them to these benefits.

“This is happening at a time when most schools face a shortage of experienced teachers specialized in subjects such as biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, English and others.”

Abeer also drew attention to their futile attempt to have a personal meeting with King Abdullah to air their grievances. “When we contacted Ali Al-Sheikh, member of the Shoura Council, he promised us that there would be an immediate solution to our problems. A group of teachers met him again last Tuesday. He told them that the minister of education is in touch with him and that they would hold another meeting with the teachers to hear their problems,” she said.

Sheikha, another substitute teacher, recounted her fruitless attempts to secure a permanent contract. “I am still awaiting a permanent position even though one of my students has already received one. All my efforts to be made permanent have ended in failure. None of the officials want to meet me or listen to my grievances,” she lamented.

Sheikha said it was an injustice that teachers like her are forced to sign work contracts that lack basic rights and allowances.

“There is no mechanism obliging our superiors to evaluate our performance. On the other hand, we used to face disciplinary action for even minor things such as coming in a few minutes late,” she said. Sheikha took medical leave when she was involved in an accident. At the time she was pregnant.

Sheikha also criticized the minister’s attitude when addressing their problem. “When we met the minister, he paid little attention to our case. He only told us about his intention to appoint more youngsters as teachers,” she said.

Sheikha accused the ministries of education, finance and civil service of running away from their responsibilities and leaving this issue unresolved.

“They are supposed to solve our problems. However, we see nobody taking up our issue. It is strange that they claim that we are not covered by the king’s order,” she said, emphasizing that all teachers who have been appointed since 2005 are entitled to permanent contracts under the royal decree.