Chinese and Gulf investors have expressed interest in the Kingdom’s private schools sector, which is estimated to be worth SR12 billion, said the National Committee for Private Education (NCPE).
The NCPE also announced its plan to launch a holding company for educational investment at a recent meeting in Hail, Al-Watan daily reported on Tuesday.
NCPE Chairman, Abdul Kareem Al-Haqabani, said a hike in private school fees was implemented with the Ministry of Education’s permission and in line with the guidelines laid down by the ministry after studying the justifications of school owners for implementing such an increase.
He said private schools were badly affected by the recent government orders to hike Saudi teachers’ salary. The ministry ordered that private schools should pay a minimum salary of SR 5,600 to each Saudi teacher. The Labor Ministry’s decision to impose a levy of SR 2,400 on each expatriate worker also added to the running cost of the schools.
Al-Haqabani added that some schools were forced to close down because they were unable to bear the sharply rising cost of operations.
“About 20 percent of the 3,885 private schools in the Kingdom have been shut down because they could not bear exorbitant costs,” he said.
Chinese and Gulf investors are preparing to enter the private education sector, while there are already several Gulf investors in the market, he said.
He added that the planned holding company for education investments would be called Saudi Skills and would be announced in six months. “It will initially be a closed joint stock company and its initial public offering (IPO) or stock market launch will take place after conditions are met,” he said.
Foreign investors eyeing private education sector
