45% of students in Saudi Arabia shifted to government schools amid pandemic

Abdulaziz Al-Fahad, Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s National Committee for Private Education and Training, said that almost 45% of students in private schools and 90% children in private kindergartens shifted to government ones.

This shift was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is still impacting the sector, Makkah paper reported, citing Al-Fahad during a webinar on the Kingdom’s private education held by Asharqia Chamber.

Some private schools, whose operations were halted, might exit the market if distance learning continued for a new year, the top official explained, adding that the prolonged crisis will lead to a “disastrous impact” in the private education and training facilities.

The current situation made mergers the optimum choice for the private education facilities to stop losses and protect the national facilities and investor funds.

The Kingdom is home to 1,600 private education and training facilities, Al-Fahad added, noting that the committee developed several initiatives to cut this count to one third at least, so as to build solid facilities that can weather tough conditions.