KUWAIT CITY, Dec 24: The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled, officially approved the decision of the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) regarding the controls for disbursing the social allowance and the children’s allowance to those sent on scholarships, whether for study or training, as well as to those sent for treatment abroad and their companions, reports Al-Qabas daily. The decision, which is published in the Official Gazette, Sunday, states the following:

Article (1) Scholarship to study The employer may grant the worker study leave with pay while continuing to pay the social allowance and child allowance prescribed for workers in non-governmental agencies, provided that the following conditions are met ( Approval of the employer, the employer continues to pay the scholarship student’s wages, the scholarship must be to obtain a higher qualification, the qualification must be in the field of work of the scholarship student or employer, obtaining the necessary approvals from the Ministry of Higher Education and he must not have previously received a scholarship to obtain the same academic degree.

Article (2) Duration of disbursement for the scholarship student to study) without prejudice to the provisions of Article (1) of this decision, the social allowance and the child allowance shall be disbursed to scholarship students according to the following periods:

1 - Five years to obtain a university degree, except for students on scholarship to medical colleges, who are allowed an additional two years.

2 - Two years to obtain a master’s degree.

3 - Three years to obtain a doctorate.

It is permissible to continue disbursing the social allowance and the children’s allowance to researchers for an additional year provided that an application is submitted to the Authority along with the reasons and justifications for doing so, along with the necessary approvals.

Article (3) scholarship for training -- to be sent for training, the following conditions must be met:

1 - The training must be vocational and in the field of work of the scholarship student or the employer.

2 - The training program must be part of the annual training plan presented

3 - Submit an application to the Public Authority for Manpower, accompanied by documents supporting the training, its duration, scope, and location, for examination and study by the concerned administration.

The Authority may issue a decision to form a committee to verify the availability of the conditions for scholarship for training and decide on the submitted applications in light of what is submitted to it by the concerned administration.

Article (4) Duration of payment for the trainee -- the social allowance and children’s allowance are paid for a period not exceeding six years and may be extended -- up to a maximum -- for a similar period, with the approval of the Public Authority for Manpower. Companies operating in the field of maritime or air navigation are excluded from the period referred to obtain the necessary license to begin work in the competent training authorities.

Article (5) Cases of refunding what has been spent -- The scholarship student is obligated to work in the private sector for a period similar to the period of study leave, and if the worker fails to do so, he is obligated to refund what was spent by the Public Authority for Manpower during the leave period in proportion to the remainder of the period to be spent in the private sector, unless he adjusts his status within one year from The expiry date of registration with the General Organization for Social Insurance, provided that work in the private sector continues for the period specified in the entity whose status was modified.