Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — A study conducted by the Strategic Gears Management Consultancy has shown that the number of private schools in the Kingdom increased by 13 percent over the last five years, Al-Watan newspaper reported.

The study said the number of private schools is expected to increase by over 50 percent over the next five years.

Saudi Arabia is moving toward privatizing schools as part of its Vision 2030 as the number of school students in the Kingdom is swelling.

The Kingdom needs to build 980 private schools by 2025 in order to accommodate the projected number of students. The total number of schools existing in the Kingdom at present is 30,625. There are 26,248 public schools and 4,377 private schools. The rate of public schools only increased by 1 percent over the past five years.

The study predicts that rate of enrollment in private schools will increase by 15 percent by 2025. The number of students will be increase by 3.5 percent by 2025. There are 7.7 million students in the Kingdom, 87 percent of them, or 6.7 million, are in public schools while 13 percent of them, around 1 million students, are in private schools.