Female Saudi teachers have a tough time retaining their jobs.

Unjust dismissals of Saudi teachers from private schools continues, in broad daylight and in full view of the Ministries of Labor and Education, so as to replace them with foreign teachers and circumvent the recent decision of the Ministry of Labor to pay teachers salaries of at least SR5,000 a month.

Since the adoption of the law, private schools have been looking for ways to avoid its implementation.

“After a painstaking time searching for a private school to work at, I was able to get a job at one, which is considered among the top schools,” says Amal Al-Ghamdi, a teacher. She says she began to work with them after they requested her teaching certification, one of the conditions of employment as is the case in government schools.

“They began to request difficult tasks in an attempt to make me want to quit, such as giving lessons after my shift and working until 4 p.m. instead of 2 p.m., but I complied with demands because I urgently needed the job,” she explains. “They eventually told me my students were not happy with my performance.”

Suhair Al-Bouqri, a teacher with a bachelor’s degree in microbiology, said she was unjustly fired from her school, where she worked on preparing lab work.

She says the employment of Saudi teachers at schools is always arbitrary, unlike foreign employees who make up the vast majority of teachers.

Al-Bouqri was herself asked to work in various departments until she was fired, prompting her to complain to the women’s department at the Ministry of Labor.

She says her case is being investigated, but “I was unfortunately asked by the Labor Office to sign a pledge that I would not return to the school again. When I refused to sign, the manager fired me from the school on the first day and continued to jeopardize my prospects in other schools.”

According to Sadeq Dahlaan of the Committee on International Schools at the Chamber of Commerce, the worker recognizes a probationary period for both parties, but the problem is that some school directors are quick to judge teachers from the first week. “Arbitrary firing of teachers can be a result of the director not liking the teacher, not due to her performance, and this is unjust,” he said.

The law guarantees the teacher the right to appeal should he or she be fired unlawfully and submit a complaint with the Labor Office. If proven that the the dismissal occurred with no legal justification, the teacher can return to the same job, or submit a request to the Labor Office to impose a fine or penalty against the violating school.

Related articles across the web

• FDI into the Arab World stands at USD43.9b in 2014
• Saudi Arabia encouraging investment in Pakistan, says envoy
• Keralite among those killed in Haj stampede
• Yemen: Houthi rebels release video showing 2 captured Saudi soldiers, KSA vows to bring them back
• Two Bangladeshi nationals killed in KSA mortar attack
• Fury after Saudi Arabia 'chosen to head key UN human rights panel'
• Scores Die in Saudi Arabia Hajj Stampede
• Saudi authorities say at least 453 dead in hajj stampede
• A look at major hajj-related accidents in Saudi Arabia
• Saudi Arabia says 150 pilgrims dead in hajj stampede