They aren’t teaching in government schools, but they are university graduates specialized in kindergarten education. Some of them have accumulated 20 years of experience.
They are preschool teachers of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu. If they were categorized as public school teachers they would be earning the SR3,000 minimum wage recently mandated for all government employees. They earn SR2,000 a month. Many of them pay drivers between SR1,500 to SR1,800 a month to get to and from their jobs. What’s left barely pays for the bottled water they drink during work.
The salaries of private-school teachers have been an issue of give and take with the Ministry of Education, the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) and the private schools. Many decisions have been taken to make the minimum wage for these teachers match those of their public counterparts, with the HRDF making up the difference. To the best of my knowledge this has not happened.
Voices are continuously raised to increase the salaries of private school teachers. Will their appeal be heard?
