Kuwait City: Education authorities in Kuwait have modified school timings for different institutions in order to curb traffic congestion during the new academic year due to start Sunday (17 September, 2023) in the country.
Acting Undersecretary of the Education Ministry Osama Al Sultan has issued a related decree to all kindergartens, public and private schools as well as religious education institutions in the country as part of a government plan to ease traffic snarl-ups that have become frequent during the academic year.
According to the decree, the kindergarten day will run from 7.15am to 12.05 at noon; from 7.15am to 1.15pm in primary schools; and from 7.30am to 1.40pm in intermediate schools. Meanwhile, the school day will start at 7.45am and end at 1.55pm in secondary schools.
Private schools are allowed to draw up their schedules according to each institution’s plan, provided that the start of the school day should not fall behind that of public schools. The new timetable will take effect as of the new school year.
Around 495,000 students in Kuwait will gradually return to schools across Kuwait this week starting from Sunday. The first graders will kick off the new school year on Sunday while the rest of the graders in the primary, intermediate and secondary schools are due to start Monday.
Kindergarteners are scheduled to start Wednesday.
Around 1,000 motorists drive past the red signal per day in Kuwait, a country of some 4.6 million people, Al Qabas newspaper has reported citing security sources.
A total of 2.6 million traffic infringements were recorded in Kuwait in the last eight months, according to official figures.
