Students whose families have accompanied them abroad during their studies are complaining that they are not given sufficient childcare benefits for their dependents.

Students receive monthly financial stipends for their families while living and studying abroad on scholarships.

Nawwaf Hannawi, a father of a four-month-old baby, said that putting his child in nursery costs four times as much as the allocated budget.

“The baby’s monthly allowance is $277, but the nursery costs $220 weekly,” said Hannawi. “This does not even include the cost of food and clothing.”

“Basic medicines, such as fever-reducing drugs and medicine for digestive problems, are not covered by insurance,” he said. “Add to this the cost of diapers and milk; my daughter costs me $1,180 a month.”

“I live in a small city to be able to save up and manage my expenses until the end of the month, but I will go back to Saudi Arabia as soon as I complete the language courses I am taking, which are supposed to be a prerequisite for continuing higher studies,” he said.

“Expressing these problems is a waste of time,” he said. “Our complaints are not taken seriously.”

Nawaf Al-Zahrani, a single student in the US, published a message in the “Saudis in Chicago” Facebook group advising families to use social media to reach out to Saudi officials. He told students they could tweet their problems directly to Khaled Al-Tuwaijri, chief of the Royal Court.

“I use up an additional $800 from both mine and my wife’s monthly allowance to support my child,” said Hassan Al-Taleb, a student who recently joined the King Abdullah scholarship program. “I have my two-year-old in a low income nursery because I can’t afford a good one.”

“I am not here for luxury; I am here to study,” he said.