Manama: Kuwait University (KU) academic staff is reportedly disappointed by the decision of the education minister to boost by 8,000 the number of student places available in the next academic year.
"The minister does not seem to be aware of the fact that increasing the number of students without considering the current situation is a big, costly mistake," an academic was quoted as saying by Kuwait Times on Monday.
According to university officials, increasing student numbers will compound difficulties in dealing with the current high figure of students unable to graduate due to the limited number of courses available per semester.
The lack of classes is due to the university's recently introduced segregation policy, which forces each department to offer separate classes at different times for male and female students, the daily said.
"The segregation policy is exhausting for the university's budget," another faculty member said.
"In previous years we faced a big problem because there were instances in which students were unable to register in a certain courses because their numbers did not meet the required figure to start a class.
"Many faculties will simply be unable to house such a large number of students, especially since there are not enough classrooms or labs in some faculties or enough professors for certain majors and courses," the faculty member said.
The pressure on Kuwait University is justified due to the fact that it is the country's only state university, but it is unacceptable to make rash decisions that affect the quality of education, the academic said.
"We expected the minister to come with solutions for the problems we face today, and help to make Kuwait University a better place."
