DAMMAM: Philippine schools in the Kingdom are urged to reduce their tuition fees and to charge uniform rates to help parents cope with the rising costs of living in this country. A number of parents at the three Philippine international schools in Dammam said a reduced, unified rate should be implemented when schools open in June. “The education of our children is important and a priority, but with increases in the cost of living, our schools should help us by reducing their tuition fees, parents at the Al-Jazeera International School in Dammam said. Parents at the other two Filipino schools in the region expressed the same demand. However, owners and operators of Filipino schools said they are facing the same problem of the increasing cost of living. “Operating schools has now become very difficult due to the hike in the cost of school facilities, like rent, maintenance costs, and the price of educational materials such as books and laboratory equipment,” the school administrator of one of the schools said. “All of us have the same problem; we are in a big dilemma,” he added. Dr. Estrella Babano, education attaché at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, during her recent visit to Filipino schools in the Eastern Province, said that school management and parents must seek common ground in seeing to it that Filipino children in Saudi Arabia get a proper education. “We need to put above all the education of Filipino youth, and come to terms with the difficulties of running and managing schools in this country,” she said in an address during a cultural affairs meeting held last month at the Al-Jazeera International School. There are about 24 schools in Saudi Arabia catering to the elementary, primary, and high school education of Filipino children in the Kingdom. Three of these schools are in the Eastern Province, six in Jeddah, 12 in Riyadh, and one each in Assir, Taif and Yanbu. Competition among these schools is very stiff. A number of them are under the supervision of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah. Others are privately owned and sponsored by Saudis. Many have called for a merger of Philippine schools in order to improve efficiency and reduce costs. This has not happened due to the fact that the schools under local sponsorship are operating like commercial establishments. “Philippine schools in this country should not exist as a business enterprise for profit, but as service entities to help families of overseas Filipino workers,” a parent in Dammam said.
