KUWAIT CITY, April 27: The Ministry of Education is considering moving the start of the 2025/2026 academic year forward by one week and suspending classes during the last ten days of the holy month of Ramadan.

Educational sources revealed that the ministry is currently working on drafting the academic calendar in coordination with relevant authorities. The current proposal suggests that the school year will begin on September 1st for administrative staff, with students returning on September 7th. The slight advancement of the school year — by one week, aims to make up for the proposed holiday during the last ten days of Ramadan.

This proposed suspension of school comes in recognition of the spiritual significance of the final days of the holy month, allowing students and educators to focus on worship and to encourage religious and social values within the community. Sources emphasized that the Minister of Education, Eng. Sayed Jalal Al-Tabtabaei, is committed to creating a supportive environment for both students and educational staff to perform at their best.

Meanwhile, the Ministry announced that applications for educational supervisory positions will be open from Sunday, April 27, 2025, until May 8, 2025. Interested applicants can register through the Ministry’s website under "Electronic Services – Educational Supervisory Positions Services."

In a related development, the Acting Undersecretary for General Education, Mansour Al-Dhafiri, has revised the schedule and work mechanism for the twelfth-grade final exam control process for the second semester of the 2024/2025 academic year. These changes are in line with Ministerial Resolution No. 115/2025, issued on April 1, 2025, concerning examination protocols, grading, and review standards.

According to an amendment bulletin obtained by Al-Anba, the start date for control work across scientific, literary, and religious education streams has been pushed to Sunday, April 13—around 27 days later than previous years. Originally scheduled for March 16, this adjustment aims to streamline the process.

School administrations are now required to retrieve and review the lists of twelfth-grade students eligible for final exams from the student records system by April 17, replacing the earlier window of April 13 to 24. The period from May 11 to 15 has been designated for conducting exams in off-schedule subjects and for entering corresponding grades into the system. Grade sheets covering daily and practical work, as well as off-schedule test results, will be collected for review at the school level. Technical review sheets will also be issued and recorded in the student record system accordingly.

The system will close for entering or modifying 12th-grade grades on May 19.

On May 22, student seating numbers for final exams will be uploaded to the Ministry’s website. By May 26, committee cards and roll-call lists for students will also be published online. The date for issuing second-round seating numbers has been set for June 30.

Al-Dhafiri confirmed that exams for off-schedule subjects such as the Holy Quran and Constitution & Human Rights (for home-school students) will be unified at the ministry level. It is essential that grades for daily, practical, and off-schedule subjects be accurately entered and approved according to the specified timeline to avoid discrepancies when data is transferred to central control.

In cases where standardized 10th and 11th-grade certificates are not available, students must submit an equivalency certificate from the Private Education Department. This applies to students who have studied abroad or transferred from foreign/private schools. Religious education students must submit either a curriculum certificate or the result of their equivalency exam. Home-school students must also provide the necessary certification.