‘Kuwaiti replacements available’

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: The Ministry of Education intends to terminate the services of 1,875 expatriate teachers at the end of the current academic year 2022/2023, under the directives of the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr. Hamad Al-Adwani, within the plan of Kuwaitization of educational jobs, reports Aljarida daily. The Kuwaitization plan prepared by the Public Education Sector revealed that the concerned authorities finished preparing the Kuwaitization statistics in specializations in which there are suitable numbers of Kuwaiti teachers. The plan and replacement rates were prepared according to the numbers in each educational zone and in each educational stage separately.

The plan relies on applying the principle of proportionality in implementing the replacement of expatriate teachers, and appointing citizens in specializations in which the national element is available. According to the statistics, the services of all expatriate teachers will be terminated in specializations in which 25 percent or less of expatriates are available and they can be replaced by the national element to provide the appropriate numbers, in addition to the expected graduates from teaching colleges. The specializations in which more than 25 percent of the expatriate teachers are available, the replacement plan will be implemented in stages, reaching 100 percent after several years, bearing in mind that the continuation of the replacement plan at this pace will be bindingly linked to the rate of hiring Kuwaitis.

With regard to the Kuwaitization of educational supervisory positions (department heads), the majors that could be qualified were determined based on the numbers of Kuwaiti candidates on the waiting lists, and an estimate of the numbers to which the conditions for candidacy were applied in the current academic year. The majors that were excluded have no candidates on waiting lists. It is not expected that there will be sufficient numbers of those who meet the candidacy requirements. The number of specializations that Kuwait will cover for female teachers is 14, including “Islamic studies” with 107 female teachers, 568 female teachers for Arabic, 284 for English, 3 for social studies, 20 for history, 80 for geography, one for psychology and sociology, one for science, 29 for biology, 18 for geology, 45 for art education, 39 for decoration, 27 for electricity and mechanics, and 92 for computer science.

Kuwaitization in male majors will include 6 majors, which are Islamic education with 262 teachers over two years, history with 43 male teachers, psychology and sociology with four teachers, electricity and mechanics with 35 teachers, and computer science with 21 teachers. Teachers for social studies will not be replaced this year to ensure the preparation of graduates in teacher preparation colleges. The plan also indicated that there are majors covered by Kuwaitization this year, and others next year. A small number of specializations have been postponed to later years until the local labor market data improves due to the small number of graduates, especially in the field of electricity and mechanics. The total number of teachers in the government education sector who will be replaced is 1,77