JEDDAH: Private schools have stopped accepting new students due to a lack of classrooms and teachers to teach them.
The minimum wage of Saudi teachers that King Abdullah had decreed led many private schools to shut their doors, as they are unable to pay teachers their new salaries. Large private schools benefited from this rush season as they could accept more students with higher tuition.
Now that the first two weeks of the new academic year have passed, many large private schools have also had to stop receiving new students to avoid overcrowding. Smaller schools had shut down enrollment already. Government schools also witnessed a high demand from students, especially after the increase in tuition.
The main victims of these developments are expatriate students. When they are unable to join a private school, for the cost of tuition or the lack of place, they cannot opt to join a government school. These schools only accept a very limited number of expat students.
Wafa Al-Ghamdi, principal of a private school in Jeddah, confirmed that many students came to her from small schools that had already shut down. Others were still searching for schools that ask for a fair tuition.
“In the first two weeks, we accepted an additional 40 students. We cannot accept any more, since we don’t have enough teachers and classrooms,” said Al-Ghamdi.
Maha Bawazeer, a supervisor of the private schools commission at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the budget of small schools is too low and will not be able to cover their expenses. This caused many schools to shut down, while the demands for places increased on both private and government schools.
Mahfouz Adnan, a Jordanian engineer for a private construction company, said he had still been unable to find a school that accepts his daughter.
“My daughter was studying at a small private school where I was paying only SR 5,000 a year. Recently her school shut down and we had to look for another school. I noticed a hike in tuition at most private schools. Schools that ask for a fair tuition have already stopped accepting students,” he said.
Dina Ghazala, a Syrian mother of three boys, experienced difficulties while enrolling her sons in a private school, due to the high fees. “I was paying up to SR 10,000 per student. This year I have to pay up to SR 17,000 per student. When I took my sons’ certificates, aiming to find another school with lower tuition, all schools refused to accept them. They had no place to offer. I returned to their original school and will pay the new high tuition,” she said.
