Major news: There will now be workplace nurseries in Saudi Arabia to support working parents
And all costs must be covered by existing approved budgets
In a move to strengthen women’s participation in the labour market while supporting early childhood development goals, Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers has directed the Ministry of Education, in coordination with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development and other relevant authorities, to begin work on opening workplace nurseries in Saudi Arabia.
The authorities will now be exploring the opening of childcare nurseries at government and private sector workplaces with large numbers of employees. Authorities have been tasked with developing regulations and procedures governing the establishment of workplace nurseries in Saudi Arabia across both the public and private sectors to address organisational challenges and streamline implementation.
Reported by Saudi Gazette, the Cabinet’s decision also stressed the need to address the different working hours between nurseries and various sectors, including ministries, public education departments, and companies. The new nurseries must also account for variations in daily start and end times to encourage employees to enrol their children in workplace childcare centres.
The initiative is also aimed at supporting early childhood development goals while advancing the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
The planned measures
The Cabinet has also emphasised the importance of providing the necessary support to overcome human, financial, technical and organisational challenges facing existing nurseries operating in government workplaces. The measures include increasing operational budgets, improving facility maintenance, upgrading internet infrastructure, hiring childcare workers and cleaners, and reinforcing governance mechanisms tied to support services.
The decision also called for planning and preparing appropriate spaces and infrastructure needed to establish nurseries at workplaces while ensuring compliance with the existing regulatory requirements. Officials said all related costs must be covered within existing approved budgets through reprioritised spending, without creating additional pressure on state finances or requiring increases to approved budget ceilings.
For more information, please visit: hrsd.gov.sa or moe.gov.sa
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