An estimated 372 teachers who are stranded abroad whose residency visas has expired are not required to return to work, the Ministry of Education (MoE) said in an educational report. They represent 54% of the total number of 693 teachers of many specialities stranded abroad due to the coronavirus, Al Qabas reported.
The report was prepared by the public education sector based on data received from school districts and the administrative affairs sector, and submitted to the MoE Undersecretary for further additional overview and guidance.
The total number of faculty members whose residency has expired due to the difficulty of returning to Kuwait due to the Coronavirus pandemic is 693 teachers of many different disciplines.
The report mentions that there are 321 teachers in 12 specialities needed by the ministry, and since they cannot be dispensed with, their residency must be renewed, but there are 372 teachers whose positions can be vacated, as there are Kuwaitis and children of Kuwaiti women in their same specializations who can fill their spots.
The report carried a list of the names, specializations and details of the faculty members who could not be dispensed with, which consisted of 234 teachers and other 87 teachers, including 19 teachers in biology, 35 in physical education, 19 in music education, 4 in geology, 16 in decoration, and 91 in mathematics, 28 in science, 17 in philosophy, 6 in physics, 24 in chemistry, 53 in English, and 7 in French, in addition to technical mentors for music education and English.
According to the report, 46% of teachers who are stuck outside the country on expired residency visas cannot be dispensed with, and their residency permits must be renewed. On the other hand, there are 54% teachers with several majors that are not required.
As for the detailed numbers that can be dispensed with, there are about 22 majors of teachers stranded abroad, the report indicated that their numbers amount to 51 teachers in Islamic education, 4 teachers in social studies, and 4 teachers in history, in addition to one teacher in communication, another in recruitment, 28 teachers for art education, and 31 teachers for music education.
The General Education Undersecretary, Osama Al-Sultan, suggested that the residency should not be renewed for 34 computer teachers whose residency had expired outside the country, 4 teachers for practical studies, 3 teachers for psychology, 5 philosophy teachers, in addition to 12 science teachers, one teacher in decoration, 4 teachers in Chemistry and 17 teachers in physics.
He also requested not to renew the residency permits of 34 female teachers in the English language subject, 113 male and female teachers in the Arabic language, in addition to 3 teachers in the French language, and technical mentors in Islamic education, in addition to a librarian, bringing the total number of teachers to 252 teachers and 120 female teachers, who are not required any longer.
