As is the case every year, the vast majority of foreign parents are either unable to find a place for their children in government-run schools or cannot send them there for various reasons, and they are forced to put up with the high fees the private schools charge. The predicament is further aggravated if the expatriate has more than one child to pay for.
“I have two sons, one at an elementary school and the other at a secondary school, for whom I have to pay SR12,000 in annual fees. I have no other option but to do this even though my salary is only SR5,000, or my sons will not have a chance to study,” said Ismail Abdul Aleem.
He said he was not able to place his sons in government schools, so he was forced to put them in private schools and bear the high expense, regardless of his limited income.
Osman Adam, a Sudanese man who works as an accountant, says the school where his two daughters study will not accept payment in installments. “I have to pay a lump sum of SR11,000 for my two daughters in one go, or they will not be allowed to attend,” he told Arab News without naming the school.
Adam complains that school fees are going up every year, in addition to the rising costs of clothes and entertainment activities. “The continued hike in fees every year, especially for intermediate and secondary schools, is complicating life for us. Some of us may not be able to provide our children with education, which is a God-given right for everyone,” he said.
A Pakistani parent, whose children are studying at Hala International School, Jeddah, told Arab News that the hike in tuition fee this year has made it unbearable for most parents. He said the school has hiked the fee by between SR160 and SR190 per month.
The annual fee for grades 1 to 3 at Hala has been increased to SR6,500 from SR4,800 last year. The fee for grades 4 to 6 has been increased from SR5,400 to SR6,600 and for grades 7 to 8 from SR6,600 to SR8,500.
“We have no choice but to put up with the exorbitant hike because we can’t pull out our children from school,” the parent told Arab News on condition of anonymity.
Furthermore, most parents wonder why the school charges transportation fee for the holiday period. “The school reopens on Sept. 25, but the school has charged the transportation fee for the whole month, defying all logic,” complained one parent.
He also claimed that the school’s buses are not roadworthy and most of them do not have effective air-conditioning. “Our complaints to the school authorities have been consistently ignored,” he said. Arab News tried to contact the school director but he did not respond.
Abdul Raheem Mustapha, a salesman, said he had to pay SR10,000 for his son who is studying at a secondary school, even though his monthly income rarely goes beyond SR5,000.
Adam warned that the unbearable fees might force expatriate students to drop out and work at an early age. “The expatriates find themselves tangled between rising living costs and ever-increasing school fees,” he said.
Mustapha agreed with Adam that many expatriate students are forced to work at a young age because they cannot afford to pay the high school fees.
Aggrieved parents sought the intervention of Saudi authorities to regulate the fee structure in private schools.
Rafa Binladin, deputy chairman of the private schools committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said private girls’ schools are committed to collecting tuition in two installments. “All private schools should follow this,” she said.
