KUWAIT CITY, Sept 23: A responsible source from the Ministry of Education has reassured teaching staff that no deductions will be made for the monthly leaves granted to teachers, which amount to 12 hours, distributed over four instances of 3 hours each. The source emphasized that any deductions are immediately cancelled upon submission of the leave to the Student Affairs Department at the teacher's work center, which is responsible for entering it into the integrated systems program.

Speaking to a local daily, the source clarified that teachers themselves cannot enter their leave requests into the system. Instead, they must submit the request to the assistant principal, specifying the date, time, and duration of the leave. The assistant principal then forwards it to the Student Affairs Department, which ensures the leave is recorded, and any imposed deductions are cancelled.

This clarification comes after several teachers expressed surprise over financial deductions displayed on the Civil Service Commission’s website, reflecting leaves taken during official working hours.

In addition, the Ministry of Education is preparing to restore the flexible working hours system for school employees in all four educational stages, based on the same schedule used in the previous academic year. The grace periods for flexible working hours are as follows:

Primary Stage: Morning flexibility from 6:45 to 7:30 a.m., and afternoon from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m.

Intermediate Stage: Morning flexibility from 6:55 to 7:40 a.m., and afternoon from 12:55 to 1:50 p.m.

Secondary Stage: Morning flexibility from 7:10 to 7:55 a.m., and afternoon from 1:10 to 2:05 p.m.

These schedules are expected to remain unchanged as the new academic year begins.