Kuwait's education ministry has rejected criticism from an MP and a rights activist who said that the imposition of music courses was harming genuine education and violating personal rights.
"We affirm that music education contributes to the consolidation of loyalty and love of the nation and to the deepening of the sense of belonging to the country thanks to the patriotic chants," the education ministry said. "Music also helps to preserve Kuwait's rich heritage in arts and sound traditions. Music is a compulsory course in elementary schools, but it is optional in high schools," the ministry said, quoted by Al Seyassah daily.
Last week, Mohammad Hayef Al Mutairi, a Kuwaiti lawmaker, threatened to take action against Dr Moudhi Al Humoud, the education and higher studies minister for imposing music classes in schools.
"I warn the minister of education and higher studies of the consequences of the fitna [tumult] she will cause in the nation by imposing music courses on students… We will not allow the minister to turn our schools into centres for the formation of dancers and dance troupes. The minister and the government should be ashamed of themselves because of the ominous deterioration of our education levels if music becomes a core course and an integral part of the curriculum and parents are forced to buy music instruments for their children," Al Mutairi, a former teacher, said.
Adel Al Damkhi, the head of the Kuwaiti Society of the Constituents of Human Rights, on Friday supported Al Mutair's view, saying that "obliging students to take up music courses in high schools or universities is a violation of their rights."
“Requiring students to study music or to produce the biographies of singers and composers is a blatant violation of human rights, while adding music courses to the curriculum with effects on their passing chances is a violation of the parents’ rights in choosing the adequate education for their children and in upholding their culture and beliefs,” he said. “The education ministry must freeze its decision to impose music lessons and to replace them with other courses that do enhance the students’ learning skills and help achieve the overall aims of the state in educating people.”
According to the activist, the ministry’s decision is a violation of Articles 2, 6 and 9 of the Kuwaiti constitution.
