The Truth About Child Safety in Saudi Schools with Sajid Khan

This might be the most important conversation we have had on Inside Saudi.

We sit down with Sajid Khan, a child safeguarding and education expert who moved from Birmingham to Riyadh at 24 and has spent over a decade protecting children in schools across the Kingdom. We get into what safeguarding really means, why Saudi can feel safer than the UK, the neglect cases that changed how he sees parenting, how AI is creating a whole new risk for kids, why the teacher matters more than the school, and the exact questions every parent should ask before choosing one.

Whether you are raising kids in Saudi, moving here soon, or you just care about keeping children safe, this episode is essential listening.

Inside Saudi is the English-language podcast about daily life in Saudi Arabia today, hosted by Carly Overman and Vesna Petrovic in Riyadh.

New episodes every Monday. with @caroverman and @vesnapetrovicx, featuring @sajidkhanfcct

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Guest, Sajid Khan: @sajidkhanfcct

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💬 Parents, what would you add? Tell us in the comments.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Teaser

0:45 Intro

2:10 Meet Sajid Khan

2:40 From Birmingham to Riyadh, finance to education

4:46 Why he moved to Saudi at 24

6:03 Arriving at 2am to a cold, empty building

9:42 Becoming a lecturer, then building schools

11:08 What child safeguarding actually means

13:22 The coffee shop test, nobody had heard of it

15:02 Why Saudi feels safer than the UK

15:44 The gap in background checks

18:50 Affluent neglect, the Oreos case

20:46 How harm starts at school, and AI

23:58 Nannies, drivers and basic needs

25:26 The CCTV driver dilemma

29:08 When emotions are high, intelligence is low

32:49 Get a criminal record check for anyone you hire

35:47 Saudi is not a ski in, ski out resort

36:43 Investing in the Kingdom, hiring locals

37:16 The teacher is everything

38:06 Kids can feel if you care

41:29 Growing up online, the new dangers

42:32 The London school trip lesson

44:23 Saudi has its own child protection policy

46:53 The biggest gap he sees in schools

49:28 Teacher training and career pathways

54:49 Advice for parents, 10 minutes a day

56:35 Put the phones away at dinner

58:14 Friend versus friendly, boundaries

1:00:42 Discipline, respect and the good cop bad cop trap

1:03:57 Guilt syndrome and screen time

1:06:25 The questions every parent should ask a school

1:09:00 The grooming red flag nobody spotted

1:10:42 Why he would rather be extra

1:13:59 The UAE horror story that changed the law

1:15:13 Thank you and close