According to a circular administered by the Ministry of Education this week, expat children over the age of eight will not be accepted at public schools from the next academic year.
Arab News unsuccessfully tried to contact the Ministry of Education to gain more insight into the reasons behind the decision.
Some principals of public schools said they believed the ministry made the decision in an effort to make sure Saudi nationals are provided with quality education.
“Over the last few years, we have noticed a large increase in the number of students at public schools, with class sizes last year ranging between 35 and 40 students,” said Fahd Al-Muzail, principal at a public school in Jeddah.
He added that teachers had complained about the workload. They are also afraid that some students are suffering from the class sizes, as teachers simply do not have time in each 45-minute class to give the attention each student deserves.
Fozan Al-Tariq, a principal at another public school in Jeddah, said he agreed, explaining that in each academic year there are added difficulties in finding vacancies for Saudi nationals at his school because of the expat students enrolled.
"I think the move by the ministry is in the best interest of the teachers and Saudi students, because the class sizes keep growing each year, as many Saudi families move from small towns and villages to large cities to find jobs," he said. Al-Tariq believes that forcing expats to enroll their children in international schools would solve much of the problem.
Nonetheless, not everyone is happy with the ministry’s decision. It is expected to affect a number of children of expat workers employed in the government sector who have been allowed, as part of their benefits package, to enroll their children free-of-charge in public schools.
“The decision is very unfair, I believe that since we are in the Kingdom working to serve the public sector, this should be appreciated with at least allowing our children to attend public schools and for us, to have the benefit of free education for our children,” Mostafa Redwan Ahmed, an Egyptian employee at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, said. Both of his two children are in upper primary school levels.
According to him, this is just another obvious difficulty aimed at expatriate workers devised to discourage them from working in the Kingdom.
Nearly 8 million expats live and work in the Kingdom, accounting for almost 30 percent of the total population of 27 million.
Govt schools close doors to expat students over 8
