Private schools appeal minimum wage system

An administrative court in the Eastern Province has temporarily suspended the implementation of a minimum wage system introduced by the Ministry of Education for Saudi teachers at private schools until a final judgment on the matter has been made.
Private schools in the Kingdom have anxiously been following court proceedings in the hope that they will receive financial aid in the wake of potential new rules and regulations.
Its ruling will decide the fate of private schools across the Kingdom, who are facing a tough time meeting minimum wage standards for Saudi teachers. The next hearing on this case will be on Sept. 12.
A group of private schools have asked the court to lay down a procedure for the payment of wages to Saudi teachers, who should earn SR5,600, which includes transport allowance of SR600.
The Ministry of Education sent a circular to all private schools a few months ago stipulating that they complete procedures for the payment of wages, follow the rules set by the Human Resource Development Fund and adhere to the mandatory GOSI insurance scheme during the new academic year, which began this week.
It also asked schools to implement a new procedure from the beginning of the academic year. The ministry said penalties for violations could range from closure of the school to suspension of its license.
The decision has led to the closure of several schools, which raises doubts about their commitment to implementing the new rules due to financial difficulty.
Khalid Al-Shammari, a prominent academic and member of the Education Committee at the Saudi Council of the Chamber of Commerce, told Arab News on Tuesday, “We need solutions for when schools fail to comply with the rules due to unforeseen reasons such as lack of students or financial capabilities. We are not against the royal decree that imposes a minimum wage. We are only opposing Article Seven on private school governance rules that imposes penalties.”
“Any private school attended by hundreds of students with fees starting at SR30,000 for primary school will be able to raise salaries to SR5,600. However, for schools in rented buildings with only 100 students and fees ranging between SR5,000 and SR7,000, this is not the case. They will not be capable of paying a 90-percent increase in salary, which is expected to further rise by 221 percent in five years. In short, the ministry issued a unanimous verdict while failing to take into account that different schools have different capabilities.”
He said,“If everyone keeps silent on the ministry’s decisions, then each and every school will suffer. Only five schools have openly objected to the new ruling even though I have filed the case on behalf of 130 private schools. If the final judgment falls in our favor, then it will be applicable to all private schools in the Kingdom.”
“We have filed a complaint with the administrative court in the Eastern Province to review this resolution and have asked the ministry to ensure that schools have proven their inability to raise salaries.”
Al-Shammari said the Administrative Court had issued its ruling to temporarily halt the enforcement of Article Seven, which prescribes the wage payment procedure. He also said the Ministry of Education has requested that the court allow more time to submit documents to support the ministry’s decision.