Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH – The Administrative Court in Jeddah has issued a verdict overturning a Ministry of Education order barring some private schools from enrolling new students this year. The court ruled that the schools can continue with the enrollment process for both boys and girls and that the ministry should delay enforcing the ban order until a solution was found to the dispute with the schools. The court ruling came following petitions filed by owners of some private schools challenging the ministry's decision, Al-Hayat Arabic daily reported on Saturday. Zuhair Ghonaim, a member of the National Committee for Private Education at the Council of Saudi Chambers, said those private schools that have not yet come under the program of Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) approached the court against the ministry's decision. Their claim was that they are not bound to implement the ministry's new decision to pay a minimum salary of SR5,600 for Saudi teachers, mainly because of the fact that they are not the beneficiaries of the HRDF program. The court accepted this claim and allowed the schools to continue their admission procedures, he said. Ghonaim noted that a large number of private schools have already been closed and some others are on the way of closure. He attributed this mainly to the tough terms and conditions as well as new regulations issued by the ministry. “Many schools are being denied visas for teachers because of their failure to achieve the required percentage of Saudization. Though several school authorities managed to obtain permission from the ministry for visas, labor offices are creating hurdles for them,” he said. “We demand that the authorities issue visas first, and then we will achieve the percentage of Saudization. But the officials are adamant and ask us to meet the Saudization targets first,” he said. According to Ghonaim, several private schools face acute shortage of teachers, especially in disciplines such as Islamic education, physical education and students' guidance. He also referred to a host of other problems faced by owners of private schools, the most important of which is the exorbitant increase in rent. “Even though the ministry permitted private schools to make a 20 percent hike in fees, most of the schools did not increase the fee,” he said, while demanding that the ministry take a positive approach in addressing the problems faced by the private education sector.
