Kuwait does not have an income tax system, and therefore banks and large companies cannot donate part of their taxes and direct them to education, for example.

Also, the zakat tax, which is deducted from the profits of joint stock companies, is lost behind the scenes of the Ministry of Finance, and therefore there is no room for the establishment of prestigious private universities without the assistance of the private sector, which is looking for profit while providing a very important service to the community.

Also, our cooperative societies were not famous for their love of spending on education generously, due to social and religious considerations.

Some believe that a “profit university” cannot be good, but I do not see the correctness of this opinion given the current circumstances. This factor also does not constitute an obstacle for international assessment of institutions while classifying them, as long as these universities are subject to the supervision of reputable government agencies such as the Council of Private Universities and the National Authority for Quality Education, in addition to the supervision of the “international university, the mother”, in contrast to the usual supervision by the municipality, the Environment and the Ministry of Finance and others.

Accordingly, the advantage of private universities in the current circumstances lies in the fact that the state sending large numbers of students annually will cost it many times as much as sending them to internal private universities. Also, scholarships to study abroad are still ongoing, for those who wish to do so and building a second public university is not easy.

The number of Kuwait University students is currently about 45,000 and cost the state huge sums of money to spend on them, while the number of students in private universities in addition to the “Arab Open University” is 47,000, the government spends on 32,000 of them, and that annually costs much less than the cost of their admission to Kuwait University or their scholarships.

There is no doubt that the percentage of each university of the amount varies from one private university to another according to its ability to absorb large numbers of students for government scholarships, the efficiency of its buildings and the way they are built, the quality of its education, and the reports of international assessment institutions about it, and according to the selection of students for its internal scholarships, in addition to other vital matters.

I do not see a valid reason for this or that university to be attacked, for the founders of the oldest of them worked for 17 years patiently and vigorously to reach its current level, and whoever has any comments on any private university should be kind enough with his silence.

One of the criticisms directed at private universities is that they are not inclined to expel a student who repeatedly fails, this will deprive them of the government installment, and therefore take into account his circumstances in its own way, but this is not a reason to degrade and attack these universities, as they perform a very important and very required job, and who has a better solution bring it.

e-mail: [email protected]

By Ahmad alsarraf