Private education is the kind of education that is based on the efforts of individuals or private institutions, under supervision of the nation's concerned authorities. A non-governmental establishment that carries out any kind of private or public education prior to the higher education stage is called a Private School.

Short History
King AbdulAziz (may God have mercy upon him), the founder of the Kingdom, had paid great interest to the organization of the Kingdom and the development of its various facilities which included both kinds of education (government and private). King AbdulAziz's concern for private education started when he arrived in the holy city of Makkah only to find four private schools: AlSautiyah, AlFalah, AlFakhriyah schools in Makkah and AlFalah school in Jeddah. His interest towards this field was shown when he had invited the scholars in Makkah to the first educational conference convened in the Kingdom during 1342H, and when he had contributed a respectable sum during his visit to AlFalah and AlFakhriyah schools. King AbdulAziz enhanced private education by the encouragement of charitable citizens to cooperate in the establishment of private schools. This led to an increase in the number of private schools for boys. From then on, private schools spread to cover several regions of the Kingdom and contributed equally with government schools towards the Educational Awakening in the Kingdom. The number of private schools today has reached to about 842, which comprise of more than 8,024 classrooms handling around 161,408 students.

Private Education under the supervision of the Ministry of Education
The establishment of the Ministry of Education in 1373H and the appointment of HRH Prince Fahad bin AbdulAziz (the current Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, may God protect him) as the Minister of Education was a beneficial start for the march of Education in the Kingdom. Since then, the Ministry of Education has continued to support, assist, supervise and guide private education in order to achieve the pursued goals. The Popular Culture Department was responsible for the supervision of these private schools during the early days of the Ministry of Education and this supervision was linked to the Educational Directorates. In 1380H, a special department for private education was established which was to be under the supervision of the Director General of Education. Today, the Ministry's General Directorate of Private Education is responsible for supervision, follow-up and planning of the Private Education Departments in all the Educational Directorates.
One of the aspects of care and concern for private education is the inclusion of a special chapter in the Education Policy in the Kingdom, issued in response to the Resolution No. 779 dated 16/09/1389H by the Council of Ministers, which states the following:

• The encouragement of all levels of private education should be subjected technically and administratively to the concerned educational authorities as indicated in its special policy.
• Licenses for the establishment of private schools and institutes should be attained through the concerned educational authorities. Non-Saudis are not permitted to acquire such licenses.
• The Private Education Policy states the required conditions and obligations.
• Private Education is not responsible to award students a final certificate for completion of all educational levels.
• The supervision of the Ministry will achieve the following goals:
  • Guarantee a suitable level of education and health requirements not less than the level of the government schools.
  • Guarantee the correct orientation of the schools according to Islamic requirements.
  • Evaluation of the support requirements which should be assigned to the school so as to maintain equity and balance between the private schools.
  • Assist the private schools and institutes to attain the goals of education pertaining to the technical supervision and support.
     

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Types of the Private Schools supported by the Ministry

1. Day schools that include the three different stages (Primary, Intermediate and Secondary).
2. Night schools.
3. Qura'n memorization schools.
4. Arabic language education schools for non-Arabic speakers.
5. English language schools and institutes.
6. Calligraphy institutes.

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Private School Administrative Cadre
To allow a private school to accomplish its required duty, it is supposed to have administrative and technical cadres consisting at least of the following:

Management Cadre:
1. School Principal
2. School Deputy
3. Clerk
4. Typist
Technical Cadre:
1. Qualified Teachers
2. Student Advisor
3. Educational Supervisors
4. Librarian
5. Laboratory Technicians
The private school's owner should appoint sufficient employees to cover the other accountancy and clerical duties.
 

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Expectations from Private Schools

In addition to the role of private schools in the area of education, they are expected to practice the following:
1. Improve the methods of teaching in compliance with the general educational framework.
2. Contribute in beneficial and effective educational and schooling researches.
3. Establish training courses for teachers in order to improve their performance level.
4. Expanding the role of the traditional school and contributing to spread consciousness.
5. Preservation and abidance with the public conduct and rules of decorum of the Saudi society.

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Achievements of the General Directorate of Private Education

1. Commencement of Saudization of Islamic Education teachers in private schools.
2. Establishment of a modern mechanism for the procedures of licensing private schools.
3. Distribution of a three-year renewable certificate of license to secure an incessant distinctive standard for the private schools.
4. Preparation of a general formula for the private schools by-laws.
5. Deduction of a general formula for the additional subjects in the private schools.
6. Establishment of the requirements for the construction of private schools.
7. Formulation of a document for Private Education stating the message, concepts and objectives.
8. Establishment of Private Education councils in the provinces and districts.
9. Establishment of a Consultative Committee for Private Education.
10. Issuing and organizing a framework for night private schools.
11. Specifying the organizational framework for the languages institutes.
12. An Annual prize for the educationally distinctive school and one for the most distinctive school in terms of Saudization of its staff.
 

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