Owners of private schools met with Education Minister Dr. Azzam Al-Dakhil in Riyadh to discuss an array of issues threatening private schools with closure.

One of these matters dealt with safety permits issued by the Civil Defense, after that body denied more than 70 percent of private schools the needed documents to certify the safety of their facilities. However, Civil Defense has given all the education centers one year to get up-to-date with governmental safety guidelines.

School owners also discussed reformatting standard contract clauses. They presented the minister with a new proposal of a contract that meets the requirements demanded by schools, the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Education, and asked for the formation of a committee to represent all three parties.

During their meeting with Al-Dakhil, educators also discussed eligibility for schools and kindergartens to obtain bank loans. Many learning facilities who obtained these loans were unable to repay them, which led to the closure of many nursery schools. School owners argued that the decision to require school teachers to hold bachelor’s degrees, rather than high school degrees, as well as the application of a standard contract and a salary of SR5,600 has imposed difficulties on these centers. Many educational facilities have been unable to uphold these requirements and pay bank loans.

School owners and the minister also discussed the possibility of not transferring students who have defaulted on the payment of tuition fees between private schools, but rather placing these students in public schools instead.