Kuwait halts hiring of teachers from abroad
Reliance on local applicants to cover school needs
Cairo: Kuwait has halted recruiting teachers from abroad for the current school year due to restrictions prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a local newspaper reported Tuesday, citing education sources.
The Education Ministry has decided to make do with local hires until the coronavirus crisis is over, Al Jarida newspaper quoted what it termed as well-informed sources at the ministry.
“Instructions have been issued to the competent sectors at the ministry to work out their plans to offset shortage in educational and administrative specialisations through local contracts with citizens, Gulf nations, and stateless residents [Bidoons] and expatriates inside the country according to needs,” a source said.
No committee has been formed to contract teachers from abroad for the present school year, according to the sources.
Previously, Kuwait used to contract schoolteachers from other countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan and Lebanon to cover its needs for teaching some subjects where there is a shortage in local teachers.
However, the global coronavirus pandemic and related travel restrictions have hampered the dispatch of Kuwaiti contracting committees to those countries.