Private schools resist minimum wage decision

A Shoura Council member said the council is “not sorry” that some private school officials closed their schools because of the Cabinet decision to set a minimum wage for Saudi teachers .
Ahmed Saeed Mufareh, member of scientific research and education affairs committee in the Shoura Council, said there are other reasons that prompted some private school officials to close their schools but they refused to disclosed those motives.
Mufareh said the fees collected from students in addition to the subsidy provided by the Human Resources Fund is more than enough for investors in private schools.
But Khaled Alduelej, member of the national committee of private education in the Council of Saudi Chambers, found that the statement doesn’t solve the real problems faced by private schools.
“Many private schools will close down because of the financial deficit,” Alduelej said.
He argued that if the decision was made to increase Saudization, then some schools are going to be 100 percent Saudized. "But what would happen to the schools after subsidies end in five years? The operating cost will jump to 221 percent,” Alduelej said.
According to Alduelej, the minimum wage for Saudis would add an extra burden on the investors who are already asked to pay a SR 2,400 fee for each foreign worker.
Alduelej said it was difficult to provide medical insurance to teachers and their families and abide by the security and safety requirements of the Civil Defense.