Despite the government's efforts to lighten the financial burden on the parents who enroll their children in private school by subsidizing part of the teachers' salaries, parents are still complaining about the increased fees they have to pay to send their children to the private schools in the Kingdom. Tuition fees should not be raised as in the case of merchants who increase prices when the demand for their products is high. The situation is different. Those who open private schools should not raise tuition fees based on market forces or the law of supply and demand. That would contradict the purpose of providing education and instilling the right values among children who constitute the future generation. It is the parents' right to raise questions if the school owners are running their institutions like they are running business enterprises. They are supposed to provide education and not to earn hefty profits. The parents should be vigilant against those who turn a blind eye to the fact that education is a mission to provide the basic need of every child. The proliferation of private schools which are opened for financial gains, instead of imparting education with missionary zeal and commitment pose grave perils to the country's future. The main reason behind the proliferation of private schools that are run like business enterprises is the absence of law and regulations to check the private schools' activities and protect the interests of both the students and the parents. Aggrieved parents should seek the intervention of the officials concerned at the Ministry of Education to regulate the fee structure in private schools, despite the statement of the its official spokesman that the ministry does not intervene in matters of tuition fees allegedly because its role is purely technical. __
