COVID-19: 90% of Saudi kindergarten seats vacant

Abu Dhabi: The numbers of students in Saudi private schools has decreased drastically amid the coronavirus pandemic, and with it the rates of employment, according to Ibrahim Al Salem, a major investor in private education, local media reported.

Al Salem, also a former head of the National Education Committee in the Council of Saudi Chambers, said the vacant seats in kindergartens may reach 90 per cent, with a dropout rate of 40 per cent for the elementary and intermediate stages, while secondary schools will witness the lowest dropout rates.

Discounts on fees

Al Salem explained that most private schools offered discounts on tuition fees for the first semester ranging from 25 to 70 per cent, to ensure student stability and keeps jobs for teachers.

School operating costs

Al Salem said there large sums of money are neededto operate schools, from salaries of employees, to operational requirements, building rents and the internet. Further costs include residency visas, zakat, income and civil defence licenses.

“Many investors have obligations to repay the loans they obtained to build high quality educational institutions,” he said.

Exit from the market

Al Salem pointed out that the owners of private schools have long-term plans and they obtained loans from banks to construct school buildings. These costs are paid from revenues and tuition fees, which means a risk of closure and defaulting on loans with large numbers of students dropping out

“There are schools that have come out of the market after all these burdens and requirements, pointing out that most of the private entities in the Kingdom have benefited from “SANED”, a governmental COVID-19 relief program to support businesses, except for private schools.

Al Salem pointed out that Saudi teachers face the danger of redundancy, after the number of students drastically decreased.

He said the move to distance education has hit nurseries and kindergartens hard, stressing that it is an important stage in the educational journey. Many owners of these schools have taken loans from the state.

Claim for compensation

Al Salem demanded the Ministry of Education compensate private schools for their losses for at least three years to help them continue their work.

He said many parents have transferred their children from their private schools to other government schools because of distance learning.