Kuwait: Expat teachers reinstated after termination

Cairo: Kuwait has re-employed 56 expatriate teachers in public schools, months after terminating their services as the need arose for them.

The reinstated expats teach children with slow development, learning difficulties, and the genetic disorder known as Down's syndrome, the Kuwaiti newspaper Alseyassah has reported.

Their reinstatement comes after the Kuwaiti Ministry of Education reversed its decision on terminating their services and contacted the Civil Service Commission, the state agency responsible for government employment in Kuwait.

After the procedures for terminating the teachers' services took effect, the ministry contacted the commission to request the withdrawal of its decision and re-employing them, the report explained.

While approving the ministry's request for reversing the related decision, the commission pointed out that the 56 teachers will not be entitled to salaries for the months during which they did not work.

In recent years, Kuwait has intensified efforts to create jobs for its citizens, replace foreign employees, and address the demographic imbalance in the country.

Last month, Kuwaiti media reported that the contract of any foreign worker doing a non-rare job at all government agencies was not to be renewed.

According to the replacement policy adopted as part of an employment policy known as "Kuwaitization", specific rates are set for each job category, designed to ensure work balance on the one hand and enhance the Kuwaitis' engagement in the labour market on the other.

Foreigners currently constitute around 3.3 million of Kuwait’s 4.9 million population, according to official figures.