Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — As part of the Education Ministry's move to improve educational standards in the Kingdom, 2,000 public schools of all levels in four regions would be brought under the proposed autonomous system, an informed source said.

"These selected schools will have independent administrative and financial systems by 2020. These schools represent only 8 percent of all public schools in the country," the source said while speaking to Al-Watan Arabic daily.

The Ministry of Education will hand over the selected schools to small companies or institutions to be managed by individuals having experience in education, management and financial planning. "These schools will be selected by the ministry based on certain criteria," the source added.

The ministry has envisioned two scenarios to implement the project after studying the best education practices in advanced countries. The first scenario is to hand over the school on the basis of an operation contract, which is similar to the system followed by the Health Ministry to run its hospitals.

The second is a kind of cost-support system where the ministry would calculate the estimated cost of a student, which will be multiplied by the number of students in a school. The operator will receive a lump sum grant depending on the number of students in a school.

Referring to the privatization of public schools, the source said it would give them with administrative and financial independence, enhance academic standard and produce better results. It will also ensure flexibility in academic curricula and programs and enable schools to work with greater freedom to achieve their goals.

The move will help provide students with necessary skills and expertise required by the job market, bring about drastic changes in the academic systems of schools, and enable students to understand and fulfill their social responsibilities.

"Privatization will reduce the financial burden on the government greatly," the source pointed out.

However, opponents of the privatization move said it would increase corruption. They argued that the operators would focus more on profits than academic standards. Some private schools are likely to promote science and technology subjects at the expense of Arabic language and Islamic studies.

Some universities might prefer students from autonomous schools against those from public schools, they said, adding that it would have a negative impact on government schools.