Private schools cite rising costs for tuition fee hike

JEDDAH: A number of private schools across the Kingdom increased the fees of its educational services for the forthcoming academic year by 5 percent following the approval of the Ministry of Education.
These increases come as a result of many factors, mainly the rising costs of the learning process itself, the efficiency of the school in addition to other standards such as the penalties previously imposed on the school, and the ratio of job Saudization on the educational and administrational levels at the educational facility, a local publication reported.
Commenting on this increase, Othman Al-Qasabi, chairperson of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s private education committee, said the increase is due to rising living costs and high labor costs, adding that a committee of the Ministry of Education is conducting comprehensive field studies for private schools in Saudi Arabia, especially regarding the new prices, to visualize the entitlement of the schools to raise school fees. He noted that the Ministry of Education has approved the increases of fees in some private schools, but some others were refused because the ministry found them to be unrealistic.
“The study of the requests for the increases in tuition will be through specialized committees, taking into consideration several criteria, including the cost of the education process, the efficiency of the school and other criteria, including the sanctions already imposed on the school, as well as the rates of the Saudization of jobs at the educational and administrational levels,” he was quoted as saying to the publication.
He pointed out that the number of private schools in the country stands at 3,000 and all of them get financial assistance from the state estimated at SR60 million. On the other hand, he added, the operational costs for schools include the salaries of male and female teachers, which amount to 70 percent, general and administrational expenses estimated at 15 percent, against a profit margin of approximately 15 percent.
He added the most problematic issues in the education process in the past were that some private schools operated for commercial purposes, and some of the investments in schools were individual without rigorous specialty, and the school owner had not conducted feasibility studies for the projects.
He explained that private schools are the first among the national economy sectors that have achieved high rates of the Saudization of jobs which reached 100 percent in some girls’ schools and 60 percent in boys schools.