The Ministry of Education (MoE) is facing a crisis of absent teachers as 3,500 teachers are stranded in their countries due to the decision to stop flights traveling from 34 countries to Kuwait, as a measure to prevent the coronavirus from spreading, Al Jarida reported.
The daily said, quoting educational sources, that the Ministry has worked, in the last period, to coordinate with the six educational districts, to find out the real numbers of expats and Gulf teachers stranded abroad. The numbers according to districts are the following: 900 teachers in Ahmadi educational district — 300 of whom are Gulf nationals, 400 in Jahra Educational District, 700 in Hawally Educational District, 450 in Farwaniya Educational District and 439 in Mubarak Al-Kabeer educational district.
The daily said, according to sources, the ministry is working on preparing a proposal for a solution to the problem of stranded teachers, in coordination with the health authorities and the Ministry of Interior to set a mechanism for their entry into the country through direct flights.
The teachers will be asked to quarantine themselves in a hotel at their own expense, to ensure they are free from the coronavirus infection before they can resume work.
The daily said that the ministry will also possibly issue visit visas for the stranded teachers whose visas have expired, so that they can enter and complete the residency visa procedures after completing the quarantine procedures.
The sources stated that it depends on the decision of the health authorities to determine the fate of the stranded teachers and their return to work.