Private schools ‘ignore’ Saudization

The Ministry of Labor’s decision to impose new expatriate fees on the private sector reveals that private schools failed to comply with Saudization regulations. By assuring the huge cost they would incur, school owners implicitly admitted their failure to comply with Saudization. They said that Saudi citizens will bear all the consequences of the ministry’s controversial decision. Concurrently, the protest among private school owners against the expat fees flared up in various cities in the Kingdom. A source in the Ministry of Labor said: “Saudization rate in private schools should be more that 50 percent and their protest against this decision proves their failure to comply with the national policy in a sector largely dominated by expatriate teachers.” However, private schools said that the Ministry of Labor has no right to impose the expat fees because it is and executive not a legislative body. The source said. “Yes, the ministry is an executive not a legislative body which implements the Cabinet decision to raise the expat fee to 2,400 per year.” Abdullah Nasir bin Safran, chairman of the Board of Directors of Jeel Alriyadah Private School, said: “The Ministry of Labor has taken successful steps to encourage employment of Saudi nationals in the private sector such as training programs for Saudi youth and Nitaqat program. But the raise of the expat fees decision is not acceptable.” From : Arabnews