Ministry approves system for private schools to hike fees

Forming a consortium would help small, low-fee private schools overcome their financial problems and avoid closure, said Malik bin Taleb, chairman of the committee for boys’ private schools at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Many private schools are expected to quit the market next year as a result of financial hardship following a decision to implement a minimum monthly wage of SR 5,000 for Saudi teachers.
“Small schools now have only two options: Raise their tuition fees or quit the market,” said Bin Taleb.
The Ministry of Education has approved a system to govern the tuition fee scheme of private schools’ based on specific criteria that focuses on the school building and facilities and their educational services. The system entails a committee, headed by Director-General of the ministry’s Private and Foreign Education Division Muhammad Esa Al-Otaibi. This committee classifies each school and determines their tuition fees accordingly.
Bin Taleb said a specific system for raising tuition fees was sent to private schools, including international schools. A school that intends to raise its fees for the next academic year must send a list of the new fees to the ministry for approval before March 13.
Bin Taleb expected five to six private schools would close in every city. “Most would be girls’ schools. These are required to achieve a 100 percent Saudization rate.”
He called on the owners of small schools to carefully review their budgets and consider the new financial commitments imposed on them to avoid closure. “A school can raise its tuition fees to deal with the new financial commitments. However, that raise should be reasonable and compatible with the level of services provided,” he said.
Schools that are unable to cover their expenses while making profits, such as schools that charge less than SR 9,000 per student, would have to close down, said Bin Taleb.
A number of parents have called on the government to tackle the issue of increasing school fees. Some have said that the fees have increased by SR 3,000. Ghada, a mother of a private school pupil, said the fees continue to rise every year while the quality of education in the school declined. “When I asked the management why they raised their fees, I was told that ‘All schools do the same.’ Some people even borrow money and get themselves into debt to pay for the high tuition fees,” she said.
Ahlam Hussien, the mother of three girls studying at a private school, said that as per the decision of school management, she would pay SR 17,000 in additional fees for her children’s education next year. She said she receives the tuition list of the following year by the middle of the second term each year. “Yet I keep reading about private schools being prevented from raising fees,” she said, calling on authorities to monitor schools.
Spokesman for the Ministry of Education Muhammad Al-Dukhaini said the minister approved the regulations governing private schools’ tuition, including a mechanism for requesting approval for increases. “Any raise that is not approved by the ministry is not effective. Parents are entitled to file a complaint with the Education Department in their region, which will tackle the issue as per the new regulations,” he said.