KUWAIT CITY, Jan 7: Adult education and literacy programs are crucial initiatives by the Ministry of Education to improve the educational levels of citizens and expatriates, as the first center for adult education was opened in 1957 and the program continues to thrive today. The recent ministry report revealed a high demand for these programs; with a total of 21,929 students in various stages in six educational districts — 12,571 males and 9,358 females. Out of these; 1,216 students are enrolled in literacy programs, with ages ranging from 15 to 60. Among the students; 16,888 are citizens and 5,041 are expatriates, including 594 in literacy programs.

The districts ranked by total student numbers are as follows: Ahmadi (5,756); Jahra (5,250); Farwaniya (4,925); Mubarak Al- Kabeer (2,806); Capital (1,943) and Hawally (1,249). In literacy programs, Ahmadi leads with 383 students; followed by Farwaniya with 357, Jahra with 272, Mubarak Al-Kabeer with 112, Capital with 50 and Hawally with 42. For the intermediate stage, Ahmadi again tops the list with 901 students, followed by Jahra with 862, Farwaniya with 718, Mubarak Al-Kabeer with 406, Capital with 273 and Hawally with 233. In the secondary stage; Ahmadi leads with 4,102 students; followed by Jahra with 3,546; Farwaniya with 3,695; Mubarak Al- Kabeer with 2,288; Capital with 1,356 and Hawally with 974. In evening religious education, Jahra ranks first with 570 students, followed by Ahmadi with 370, Capital with 264 and Farwaniya with 155; while Hawally and Mubarak Al-Kabeer have no registration in this program.

By Abdulrahman Al-Shammari
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff