JEDDAH: Problems between private school owners and the Ministry of Education have escalated because of the decision of Minister of Education Ahmad Al-Issa to stop licenses of school in rented buildings that are not designed for educational purposes.

Affected schools filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court to abolish the decision which threatens 3,400 private schools with closure.

The decision has recently been circulated and is expected to affect the sector whose investment are estimated at SR12 billion, in light of the presence of more than 3,400 schools in rented buildings, 700 teachers and more than 60,000 students, of whom, 70 percent are Saudis, after the latest nationalization decision.

The chairman of the private school owners’ committee in Jeddah Governorate, and member of private school owners’ committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mohammad Yousif, criticized the latest decision saying that it harms private schools, especially since its implementation will be difficult on the ground during the defined period of two years.

He said there aren’t suitable lands to build private schools, in addition to difficulty in getting the required funding for these buildings.

He added that rented private school buildings have been inspected by special committees from the Education Directorate and Civil Defense to make sure they meet the requirements.

Yousif said that even government schools can’t find suitable location for students, and the Educational Directorate is advising them to rent suitable buildings to be used as schools; even though the state has the material and moral potential to build schools, 40 percent of government buildings are in rented buildings.

He said this decision has to be discussed with the Ministries of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Finance as well as other establishments to find out the availability of lands in areas where current schools are, and give private school owners the necessary funding to enable them to purchase and build schools.

He said any decision should be studied before issuing it and the best example is Saudi Vision 2030, which took over a year of research before its details were announced.

He warned that the decision to close rented private schools within two years will waste the future of thousands of Saudi and expatriate pupils, as well as the jobs of thousands of teachers, since private education involves investments of over SR12 billion.