Cairo: Kuwaiti authorities have agreed to return nearly 1,000 foreign teachers and technicians stranded abroad due to travel restrictions in place to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, according to a newspaper report.
The Kuwaiti ministries of education and interior have agreed to renew residency permits of the stranded teachers in major subjects needed in the country. Those subjects are physics, chemistry, maths, as well as the Arabic and English languages, Al Anba newspaper reported, citing well-informed government sources.
Those teachers have already registered their names in Kuwaiti embassies abroad and their names will be sent to the Interior Ministry next week for residency renewal, according to the sources.
Technicians include social workers, psychology specialists, accountants and service providers.
“Their return [to Kuwait] will be via transit trips so far, but we have asked the bodies concerned to allow their return directly. We are waiting for a reply,” one source said.
Last August, Kuwait announced a ban on direct flights from dozens of countries, citing concerns over the spread of COVID-19. The move has stranded thousands of expatriates who were on holiday in the affected countries.
Some teaching specialities are no longer needed in Kuwait due to local self-sufficiency in them from Kuwaitis and other Gulf nationals, the sources said.
They include Islamic education, social studies, practical studies of electricity, mechanics and decoration as well as geology and biology.
Therefore, foreign teachers of those subjects will not have their residency permits renewed, according to the same sources.
They will obtain their financial dues either through a power of attorney or getting a visit visa to sort out their outstanding affairs in Kuwait, the sources added.
