It was responding to reports that some 27,000 teaching jobs in girls and boys public schools in the Kingdom were occupied by non-Saudis. "There is no truth to these claims," said ministry spokesman Muhammad bin Saad Al-Dikhaini.
The spokesman said there were no contracts signed with any foreign woman to teach in government schools in the Kingdom.
He, however, admitted that there were foreign men teaching in boys schools but their number hardly exceeded 3,000. “We needed to make up for the shortage in teachers in government boys schools, particularly in subjects such as mathematics,” he said.
The spokesman said the 27,000 foreign teachers reportedly working in Saudi Arabia are probably based at private schools, which contract non-Saudi teachers to fill staff shortages.
He said the ministry was coordinating with private schools to benefit from the men and women Saudi university graduates and fill teaching vacancies. “A number of actions are being taken in this regard, including not granting work visas to various subject specialties available in the Kingdom,” he added.
Al-Dikhaini said the ministry had begun Saudizing teaching jobs for a long time, but said it was still facing a shortage in some specialties, including math and science.
