Safeguarding in international schools in Saudi Arabia (2026)

The Ministry of Education licenses and supervises international schools. The International Schools Regulations say so in Article 3. A Supervisory Council chaired by the Minister approves school applications and curricula.

A new General Education Law was approved by royal decree and reported on 24 July 2026. A law firm briefing says it takes effect on 20 January 2027. The old rules for private and foreign schools stay in place until replacements are issued.

The same briefing says every private school will need accreditation from the Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC) or an international body that ETEC approves. ETEC has already licensed the accreditation scheme run by the Council of British International Schools (COBIS), on 7 August 2025.

Schools in the Kingdom list other bodies on their public pages. Ask each one what it expects on local law.

• Council of International Schools (CIS) accreditation
• New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) accreditation
• International Baccalaureate (IB) authorisation
• British Schools Overseas (BSO) inspection

The law appears to say yes, in two places. The Child Protection Law defines a child as anyone under 18. Article 22 says any person who becomes aware of abuse or neglect must report it promptly to the competent agencies.

The Law of Protection from Abuse adds a step for workers. Under Article 3, an employee who learns of abuse through work must tell the employer at once. The employer must then report it at once to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) or the police.

The executive regulation adds weight. It says a person proven to know of abuse who does not report it bears full liability. It also makes the workplace liable for delay or failure to report in good time.

The regulation keeps the reporter's identity confidential in most cases, and treats a reporter as acting in good faith unless proven otherwise. Tell staff this, because fear of blame stops many reports.

The Child Protection Law names school among the settings it covers (Article 2). Ask counsel how the abuse law applies to harm by staff, since its definition is tied to relationships of care and authority. The guide to mandatory reporting laws in international schools gives the wider picture.

If a child is in immediate danger, call your local emergency services now. Then tell your designated safeguarding lead (DSL) the same day. Emergency numbers can differ by region, so ask your security team to confirm the right ones and post them.

For advice, the national Child Support Line is 116111. Child Helpline International lists it as free, run under the National Family Safety Programme, open 7am to 11pm daily, in Arabic and English. Check the hours before you print them.

HRSD runs a Domestic Violence Reporting Center on toll-free 1919. HRSD says psychologists and social workers advise callers there around the clock, in confidence.

The Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution investigates breaches of the Child Protection Law (Article 23). Your school still needs its own named route. Write down who makes the external call, who covers when they are away, and what gets recorded.

Policies built on the International Task Force on Child Protection (ITFCP) standards ask staff to tell the DSL, who decides on any outside referral. Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) applies to schools in England and has no legal force in Saudi Arabia. See which parts transfer to schools abroad.

Saudi texts put the duty on every person and on the employer, with words like "promptly" and "at once". Your route needs a time limit. Set a same-day rule for staff to tell the DSL and for the DSL to decide on a report.

The response may also be family-focused. The executive regulation lets a protection centre keep a low-severity case with the family, after taking a legal pledge from the abuser. A DSL used to a statutory child protection service should plan for a child who stays at home, and keep watching inside school.

One procedure can serve both. Use the stricter step at every stage. Staff share any worry, the DSL decides the same day, and a one-page Saudi annex lists routes, numbers and contacts.

The texts reviewed here do not describe low-level concerns or allegations against staff. Keep your own policy for both, and get legal advice on how the reporting duty applies before you act.

The Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) was issued by Royal Decree M/19 in 2021. The Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) guide to the law says it came into force on 14 September 2023. A one-year grace period followed.

Article 2 covers processing in the Kingdom. It also covers data about people who live there, handled by any party abroad. SDAIA's examples include a foreign firm and a cloud service hosted abroad, so a group school with servers elsewhere should assume it is in scope.

Sensitive data includes health data and data on criminal convictions, and safeguarding files often hold both. SDAIA says consent for sensitive data must be explicit, and legitimate interest cannot be the lawful basis. Ask counsel to map the lawful basis for each type of record.

Article 29 and SDAIA's Regulation on Personal Data Transfer outside the Kingdom set the conditions for sending data abroad. SDAIA opened a consultation on 6 October 2026 on draft changes to the Implementing Regulation. According to Clyde & Co, the draft would add a duty to store personal data in the Kingdom.

The draft is not in force, and the consultation closes on 5 November 2026. Ask every supplier where safeguarding data is stored, who can read it and what happens to it when the contract ends. The guide on AI, training data and data protection has more questions to ask.

Saudi laws are written in Arabic, and the English texts used here are for information. The briefing says Arabic is the main language of instruction under the new law, with other languages allowed under controls still to come. Put your reporting route in Arabic and English, and check that support staff can follow it.

Rules on mixing boys and girls are still being set. The briefing says the new law lets a new council lift gender separation in private schools, with controls not yet written. Check your licence conditions before you plan duty rotas, changing areas and one-to-one supervision.

The Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children found no explicit ban for schools in legislation, in a report updated August 2024. Ministry of Education circulars aim to deter it, and the government says it is prohibited. Write a clear ban into your staff code of conduct.

UK government guidance on overseas criminal record checks (last updated 31 January 2025) says the UK knows of no process for getting certificates from the Saudi authorities. So do not assume a local police certificate exists for every hire. Use home-country checks, past-employer references and a gap check, as set out in the guide to safer recruitment.

The briefing also says teachers will need a professional teaching licence under the new law. Ask ETEC what that means for overseas hires.

Work through this list in your first month. The facts were last checked on 19 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice, so confirm current law with local counsel and the relevant authority.

• Ask your Ministry of Education contact which licence rules apply now, and when the new law changes them.
• Ask your accreditor what it expects on local law and on reporting to outside agencies.
• Get counsel to confirm one reporting route: who reports, to whom, and within what time.
• Post 116111, 1919 and your confirmed emergency numbers in Arabic and English.
• Add a short Saudi annex to your child protection policy.
• Ask every supplier where safeguarding data is stored and who can read it.
• Write down how you check new staff when no local police certificate is available.