JEDDAH: The Saudi Ministry of Education has said that a
total of 1.1 million foreign students are enrolled in public schools throughout
the Kingdom, studying for free, just like their Saudi classmates.
Further giving a break-down of the total 1.1 million foreign students, 252,842 are Yemeni nationals, 131,297 are Syrians, 41,209 are Burmese, and the remaining are of different nationalities, including Palestinians, Egyptians, Sudanese and other Asian and Arab nationalities.
Syrian and Yemeni students have been welcomed in Saudi
schools due to the ongoing conflicts and security instability in their
countries. Hundreds of thousands of these community members who wish to stay in
the Kingdom have been granted legal residency and are treated just like other
residents when it comes to access to free health care, labor market and free
education, as per the royal order issued in 2012.
Similar to Syrians, Yemenis are granted a 6-month visit that
can be extended before they are granted legal residence. Syrian resident Abed
Al-Fifi said the services offered by Saudi Arabia to the Syrians are
unparalleled as their children study in schools for free and are treated like
Saudi students, with no discrimination, by the departments of education,
teachers or students.
His son, Nader, has made many friends in middle school, he
said, thanking the government of Saudi Arabia for its constant support.
Syrian resident Mohammed Abed said his daughter Aleen
studies in elementary school in Al-Safaa neighborhood and was warmly welcomed
by her teachers and the school administration when they found out that her
family had escaped the war in Syria. He said they even offered her mother full
support, including school supplies, but he refused because he was able to find
work in the Kingdom and was earning enough to meet his family’s needs.
He expressed appreciation for the school’s directors and his
daughter’s teachers who support her and follow up on her progress, as well as
for the government and people of the Kingdom.
It should be recognized that the members of these communities are not treated as refugees, but as brothers and equal citizens.