Education in Saudi Arabia - Private Education

Private Education

In Saudi Arabia, private education is to be considered one of the elements supporting governmental education at all education levels. The General Department for Private Education at the Ministry of Education supervises private schools for boys and private schools for girls and government provides private schools with free textbooks and an annual financial aid. Government also appoints and pays for a qualified director in every private school. According to UNESCO, in 2007, 48.9 percent of children enroll in pre-primary schools, 8.2 percent of children enroll in primary school. As for the intermediate education, 6.4 percent of students enrolled in general programs are in private schools and 70.3 percent of students enrolled in technical and vocational programs are in private schools. As for the secondary education, 13.4 percent of students enrolled in general programs are in private schools and 61.6 percent of students enrolled in technical and vocational programs are in private schools. According to the World Bank, in 2004, 7.4 percent of students in tertiary education enrolled in private schools.