Expatriate teachers at a government-run Saudi school have been accused of selling teaching notes at up to SR800 ($213) a subject in a bid to cash in on students who are struggling at school, it was reported.
Students at the school in Sakaka, the capital of the northern Al Jouf province, said their Saudi teachers negotiated with their expatriate counterparts to prepare questions and answers for monthly tests as well as issue notes summarizing the entire science curriculum.
“The expatriate teachers sell the sample questions and answers by giving the students the impression that they will benefit from purchasing them or inviting the teachers to their homes to give them tuitions at a high price,” one student told the Saudi Gazette.
The girls said the 10 to 20-page notes written by the expatriate teachers would cover the questions for the upcoming tests.
The schoolgirls added that the expatriate teachers sold the notes at SR800 ($213) a subject, while the questions and answers for the monthly tests were traded for SR500 ($133) a subject.
The notes are promoted among girls taking tuitions at home, the Gazette reported.
Othman Al Qassabi, chairman of the Private Education Committee at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), said the practice by Saudi female teachers of assigning their expatriate counterparts to prepare notes on their behalf was reprehensible.
“This might have a negative impact on students who will lose confidence in their teachers,” he said. “It will also have an impact on their performance in the future.”
He said a supervisor should scrutinize the questions prepared by the teachers for tests to ensure that they were different from those given in the classroom.
“In case the questions are leaked out for any reason, there should be alternative sets ready,” he said.
However, he said the committee had not received any complaints.
Follow us on
