JEDDAH: Owners of private schools in Jeddah presented the obstacles that face their work in the educational field and affect their performance to the labor office.

They met with the director of the labor office in Makkah, Abdullah Al-Alyan, and discussed the unified contract and reformulated it so that the Human Resource Development Fund can bear the social insurance sum and the end of service award.

They also discussed regulations for the prevention of absconding Saudi teachers who choose to leave private schools during the scholastic year without prior warning. They also discussed the possibility of reducing Saudization rates in new private schools for five years, on condition that schools will achieve Saudization rates.

Owners recommended the possibility of opening the door for teachers' visas to recruit foreign teachers to meet the shortage in Islamic education. They called for keeping the electronic system open to some violating schools when the violation is related to wages, paying insurance, or low Saudization rates. Schools should be allowed to recruit workers and drivers because Saudis don’t like to work in these jobs.

They called on the Ministry of Labor not to link the Saudization certificate for private schools with other branch activities whose ownership goes back to the same investor. They said teachers' visas should be open and tied to two years, in addition to giving labor offices the authority to issue visas without going back to the ministry.

Owners called for the formation of a permanent committee with 50 of its members being private school owners. This committee takes care of reviewing labor laws and regulations related to private education.