Saudi Arabia considers privatising school management

• Aims to lift education quality
• State remains in charge of training
• New school-building financing

Saudi Arabia is considering privatising public school management to lift education quality, its deputy minister for education investment has said, adding that he wants schools with more specialist facilities.

The plan marks a notable shift in approach, opening the door to greater private-sector involvement and creating new opportunities for developers to shape the next generation of schools, as well as existing establishments.

“We’re going to give the private sector the opportunity to run our public schools,” Abdulrahman Al-Hajri said at Cityscape Global in Riyadh last week.

“We’re also enlarging the base by adding sport schools, tech schools and cultural schools all around the kingdom.”

The government would still be in charge of vetting teaching staff and commissioning their training, but the day-to-day management of schools could be undertaken by private companies. The ministry also called for more private-sector developers to build schools.

Education in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s school system is predominantly state-run. In January 2024 the country transferred the management of certain faculties in public schools to the state-owned Tatweer Buildings Company, which has managed projects such as building public schools through public-private partnerships.

The government will still manage recruitment, stating that teachers will be trained by overseas institutions. 

“New teachers will have to go through orientation for at least a year before they can teach. Current teachers will go through training [in partnership] with Singapore. Headmasters will be trained by University College London,” said Al-Hajri. 

Saudi authorities had earlier denied claims in 2021 that the country was considering transferring schools to the private sector. 

Al-Hajri also mentioned three investment opportunities in collaboration with state-owned developer the National Housing Company to create educational facilities within new residential communities, but did not provide specific locations. 

The kingdom will soon launch new financing options specifically targeted at making schools more appealing to build. 

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“Finance has been a very big challenge in the past, but we’re now able to grant education [developers] new options. We’re launching this in December. We’re granting them loans with very competitive rates and very good grace periods,” said Al-Hajri.

He noted that international experience shows a clear link between school quality and property prices, with studies finding that better education can lift average housing values by 6 to 15 percent in competitive major cities.

He added that reports from the UK, the US and China reveal that exceptional schools can increase the prices of nearby properties by 8 to 15 percent.

Education is a central pillar of Vision 2030, and the government has been expanding public-private partnerships to diversify the economy. There are 84 education opportunities listed on national investment platform Invest Saudi. 

This includes investment and development opportunities in areas such as international schools, filmmaking centres, data science centres, medical schools, game development centres and new university campuses.