KUWAIT CITY, March 25: Foreign and bilingual private schools have already opened their doors to enroll students in the 2023/2024 academic year, while their Arabic and model counterparts set the next month for that purpose, reports Al-Rai daily. An educational source revealed that the tuition fees are the same as those previously applied, and there will be no increase in fees in private schools, based on the ministerial decision issued in this regard. In a bulletin, the General Department of Private Education declared that schools are not obligated to re-register old students who fall behind the deadline set for the end of registration.

A student will not be considered registered if he does not pay the registration fees for the 2023/2024 academic year, but the school must prove that it has notified the student’s guardian about the registration dates by any means of communication.

Registration
The student registration process will continue until the end of March, for a category of students without the need to obtain the prior approval of the General Department of Private Education. These are the new students from outside Kuwait. However, they must submit to the school their passport to confirm the date of entry into the country. Also, their academic certificate should be certified and proven equivalence by the Department of Examinations and Equivalencies (Certificate Equivalency Control) at the General Department of Private Education, specifying the class in which the student is accepted.

A new student is the one who entered the country on an entry visa to join a family only, and he has been given a period of two months from the date of entry to complete the residency procedures. It is absolutely not allowed to register any student who entered the country with the tourist visa or commercial visit or who has a temporary residency. All schools must adhere to the age scale in force in the ministry, as the minimum age for admission to the kindergarten stage is 3 years and 6 months, and to the second level is 4 years and 6 months, while the first grade student must be above 5 years and 6 months in age. The school principal and the head of the student affairs department are considered fully responsible for approving the file of any male or female student and verifying the permitted date of birth. The bulletin highlighted the student density in the classes of Arab and model schools, warning that, “It is not permissible in any way to increase the number of students in classes beyond the prescribed limit, except after obtaining the prior approval of the Ministry of Education.” The bulletin specified general guidelines that must be taken into account when registering students, the most important of which is that Arab and model schools adhere to adopting the student record program with regard to registering students, transferring them, and issuing certificates.

Student registration requests or acceptance papers are approved by the school principal or assistant director assigned by the ministry. Registration is prohibited except by virtue of a valid residency in accordance with the governing conditions and regulations. The General Department of Private Education may temporarily approve the registration of a student whose residency has expired, according to its discretionary authority for registration. This will necessitate upon registration the last educational certificate obtained by the student indicating his status (passed/failed). One of the conditions is that students with disabilities must be registered according to the categories of disabilities that each school is authorized to receive. As for schools that have not yet completed their licensing procedures, they will not be allowed to re-enroll or register new students until the license is issued, and the school is committed to re-registering students who failed in the first or second round in their school