Around 2,217 expat teachers are estimated to be able to return before the new school year after the Supreme Committee for Corona Emergency in the Council of Ministers approved the request of the Minister of Education, Dr. Ali Al-Mudhaf, Al Qabas daily reported.
Expat teachers suffered job insecurities as they were stranded in their home countries, and unable to return to Kuwait.
Official sources confirmed to the daily that the Council of Ministers officially addressed the Ministry of Education, on Sunday, to approve the return of educators of different nationalities based on the education ministry’s request.
The education ministry will work during the next few days to take the necessary measures to facilitate the return of the stranded expats according to the need for their specializations, and outline a mechanism for renewing teachers’ residencies that ended while they were outside the country. Many teachers were unable to return to Kuwait due to the airport closure, expat travel ban and repercussions of the Coronavirus crisis.
The sources stated that the Acting Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Faisal Al-Maqsid, will hold a meeting with the concerned administrative and public education sectors to discuss the decision of the Supreme Committee for Corona Emergencies, and detail a plan for their return, which is expected to coincide with the beginning of the new academic year 2021-2022. This will be followed by a coordinated effort between the Ministry of Interior and Civil Aviation to take the necessary measures to ensure the return of the expat teachers groups that will be named by the education ministry.
The sources noted that there is no concrete plan regarding stranded teachers with expired residency, but it is possible that they will granted entry on a government entry visas or there will be a mechanism defined for them to renew their visas online. It has not been decided whether the family members of the stranded teachers will be granted entry upon their return or not.
The sources revealed that the number of teachers stranded abroad, whose residency visas ended who were unable to return to the country due to the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic, reached more than 700 teachers in various fields of specialization. However, the ministry terminated the employment of 372 teachers who have been substituted by Kuwaitis of the same specialties as part of the Kuwaitization policy.