“Committee” Cracks Down on Education in Kuwait
This is a small article from yesterday’s (October 16) Kuwait Times:
MOE Cracks down on foreign schools:
Kuwait: The council of undersecretaries at the Ministry of Education chaired by Minister of Education Nouriya Al-Sabeeh will discuss after Eid holidays the demands of the committee about the negative effects of some traditions to the Kuwait society.
(Excuse me? What committee is that? What negative effects of some traditions? Could you make this any more opaque? Or is the goal to have us ask these very questions?)
It continues:
The committee demands to stop foreign schools from making foreign trips until the regulations to control these trips and stop mixing girls and boys together have been issued. The committee also demands that foreign schools inform the ministry about any parties they intend to have and the agenda of that party to ensure that the nimistry is present and in order to make sure that the school abides by the MOE’s regulations.
The committee also asked the ministry to implement a plan for segregation among boys and girls in the high school classes, as it is more important than segregation at universities. The committee noted that segregation should start in school activities as a preliminary step an foreign schools should be instructed by this through a circular to be distributed to them.
Comment: Let’s face it, foreign schools have strange foreign ways, including the mixing of boys and girls. They believe it creates healthier relationships down the road when people learn to get along with all kinds of other people at a very young age.
Even now, fewer western families are coming to Kuwait because of the education situation. It is often discussed among expat groups that the quality of education available in Kuwait is slipping dramatically.
Of those expat families that do come, many are choosing to home-school to avoid the problems developing in the local schools, even the “foreign” schools. It seems to me that local people who send their kids to the better “foreign” schools do so because these schools have a reputation for providing a better level of education than the public schools – is this correct? It also seems to me that if the “foreign” schools are doing better than the local schools, perhaps it is a good idea to keep letting them do their thing, rather than regulate them too closely?
I saw a group of home-schooled kids on the beach recently, having PE. They were playing volleyball, big kids, little kids, boys and girls all together. They were having a wonderful time. They were polite, respectful and modestly dressed. There wasn’t a sign of romance, just good, healthy fun as they played.
A friend who teaches in one of the local schools tells me of little Abdul, whose pencil fell on the floor the other day and he said to her – his teacher – “Pick that up.” She just stood there, half in shock that he would speak to her – or to anyone – so disrespectfully. Abdul looked up at her with those charming big eyes and grinned. And said “You’re not going to pick it up, are you?” She laughed and said “No, you are!” and he did. Little Abdul is learning some strange foreign ways.
Some of you went to foreign schools, either here in Kuwait or elsewhere. What do you think?
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This is completely and utterly ridiculous. We’re shifting from a type of open educational environment into a much controlled and monitored environment. I doubt there are any studies on the repercussions this will have on the educational and social effects on the students.
Recently I’ve become more of an advocate of home schooling. Honestly, the current state of public (and now private) education is deteriorating and learning is probably at an all time low (personal speculation)!
if thats the way they feel about it then i suggest all locals be banned from sending their kids to foreign schools if theyre really worry about “local values”.
there end of story.
the sad thing is that they cant cos they know that local schools are inadequate and all the “big boys” send their kids to international schools because of that.
its just ridiculous,… next thing you know they’ll segregate kindergarten, the earlier the better, then segregate babies in hospitals, an then ultimately segregate pregnant women with male and female unborn babies.
actually i would love to see that,… i would laugh sooo hard!
What’s a “foreign” school, they’re usually called “private schools”? Do they mean specifically private schools that are foreign like Indian schools or the French school, etc?
I am not for forcing schools to segregate for the sake of segregation but I have read that schools that segregate boys and girls may actually get a better performance out of the girls and a more comfortable environment for both girls and boys. Ahh who knows anything nowadays? Wherever the quality of education comes under questioning it seems this issue pops up. This is an issue of debate in the States as well; the No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law in early 2002, authorized districts to use funds to establish same-sex schools or classrooms. So whoever pushed for the act (I believe the Bush Administration) must feel that this would solve some educational woes.
I really hate to think that people would not want to come live in Kuwait because of the educational level slipping. I think that’s a misguided perception of our educational level and the negative aspects are totally inflated. Expats don’t have to believe us they should just see the evidence in the acceptance of Kuwaiti grads by universities like Harvard, MIT, Brown and NYU. Of course I’m talking about private school grads not public school though I have some friends from public schools who got accepted and performed extremely well at universities that are not Ivy but still really decent like Boston University for example.
I am really appalled at this decision! I am a Kuwaiti girl who graduated from a private school – American to be exact – (honor student, good university graduate) and I don’t think that I was altered by any foreign values during those years.
The only values I carry with me everyday are those that my family taught me and that I grew up with.
Segregating students will not solve any moral dilemmas. These should be fixed at home. Instead on focusing on gender issues, the Ministry should be focusing on education issues!
I agree with 1001 Nights about the education level. It might not be the best there is, but its definitely not FULLY deteriorated. There are some schools better than others, and there are some TEACHERS better than others as well. Education is a hard decision all around the world. I hope we have the good sense to evaluate where our children are heading.
As a good friend says “I don’t have a dog in this fight.” 😉 I also went to a “foreign” school as I grew up, and our son went to “foreign” schools. We both got great educations, and found ourselves well prepared for university.
I think you are right, Zin, that many girls can excel in an all girl environment. And yet we are seeing women taking the majority of degrees from high school and university, so they seem to be holding their own in a mixed environment, too.
Skunk, you back in Kuwait? Did you find a good office space? Or is your office space wherevery you happen to be?
The reason I send my son to private school is because I think it is ultra-important to have him in a co-ed environment. Having said that, I HATE his school with a passion and if I could, I would definitely home school him. There doesn’t seem to be any good qualified private schools anymore. They all have major problems. It seems to me that Kuwait is going backward and not forward. Not only is there a lack of good education but the workplace is no better. People are stagnant in the government sector. It’s getting to the point that my husband and I have talked about moving abroad, either to another Gulf country or to the States. It’s THAT BAD.
It’s nothing but a mere political maneuver by Minister Nouriah Al-Sobeeh to fall from the Islamic radicals radar and to keep them pleased and shunned.
It’s just getting politically crazy lately, I do understand where those opinions are coming from, with all the rapid changes in society and the new alien generation that has nothing to do with what once used to be and add to them the political agenda and you’ll see what’s causing the smoke.
The problem isn’t the quality of education which everyone knows that the bar is set real high, nor having both genders in the same classrooms. It’s the new foreign habits which are being picked up by youth nowadays, the way they talk, dress, behave, walk and even the way they think.
What seems to fall from their perspective is that those souls are the natural result of modern time, globalization effects and rapid changes in mentality in morals. It’s naive to blame either school or home for any inconsistency or changes in behaviors or attitudes and to aim for encapsulated society, it has gotten more intricate in the last decade than that. We cannot break it down to foreign schools side effects. There are many attributes that sculpt minds and behaviors.
Let them do whatever they want to do, because it’s simply a matter or payback, settlements and camouflage and the issue shall die abruptly once a new score is found.
I would be interested to learn more about the expats that do homeschooling and how it is organized (you mentioned PE classes on the beach)
Foreign schools have always been under the MOE microscope ever since I remember but always at varying degrees depending on local situations and politics.
However, it is interesting to note that post-Invasion (1990) the foreign schools in Kuwait not only increased in numbers but also have more Kuwaiti nationalities attending than before that date. No statistics here but just observation. I imagine that there are problems everywhere.
I wouldn’t generalize with the Abdul situation though. It sounds horribly disrespectful but I sincerely hope it is not a general attitude.
What can I say?
The “ministry” is having a go at “fixing” what parents have failed to teach their own children: manners and respect towards the opposite gender. “They can’t behave around eachother, therefore they must be separated!”.
In my opinion, the right way to go about these issues is by teaching children, at a young age, about the proper ways to treat and talk to others. They should be aware of harassment and the fact that it is frowned upon and won’t be tolerated.
With time, their manners and language would be improved and worked upon, so that when they reach their teenage years, they can be trusted to mingle with the rest of society in harmony.
For those interested in homeschooling, just Google “homeschool curriculum” and you will have pages and pages of results. Before jumping in, I would go to some chat rooms and read some of the discussions, and learn what different parents have found the most – and least – useful.
I am learning so much from your comments. Thank you for your patience with me, and for your explanations. One thing I still don’t understand – who is the committee whose recommendations are that the classrooms be segregated by sex?
Touche, I think you have hit on one of the real issues – that times are changing, and people are looking at the youth as part of the problem. I posted a song for you – the elders complaining about youth is as old as man!
One rotten apple spoils the lot. What further evidence is needed to confirm the socially disruptive influence the Saudi way of life has on contemporary society in Q8?
Ban co-ed totally in foreign schools and expect to see an upswing in juvenile delinquency, sexual harassment in the workspace and an increase in homosexual tendencies – presence of the opposite sex is always such a great leveler everywhich way you look. By the bye, are there any committees knocking about even as we speak that try and address the demoniacal effects of religious legislators and lawmakers on civil society??
*laughing Laughing laughing* BL at your last line. We have them in many countries, don’t we? One of my favorite books is by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaiden’s Tale, and it tells of a time in the US when the religious fundamentalists take over. Wasn’t Salem enough?
From a nerd’s point of view, I would have hated school without guys around. Girls from 11 to 17’ish get kind of overemotional and hormonal – guys stay fairly even. I always had a lot of guy friends, and my life would have been poorer without them. In college, I played bridge with them. We didn’t always have stellar conversations, but I always knew I could count on them if I needed help. 🙂
I had always supposed primary schools to be more important than higher seats of learning. After all, they are the breeding ground for inculcating values, work ethic, shaping of personality, and behavioural patterns.
It’s a shame issues are being made of non issues whilst paying lip service to the sad state of rot most of the state run schools find themselves in.
With better living conditions afforded in the Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman you find overseas teachers not too keen on taking up teaching assignments with foreign schools in Kuwait never mind the savings potential is better here. The better teachers end up going to Dubai or Abu Dhabi. A radical overhaul of the State schooling system is in order with greater autonomy to private sector educators for a meaningful education, which resonates with global values, not just purportedly, “superior local values.”
I know we are having problems in the United States, also. I wonder which countries are having the greatest success with education programs, and how they are achieving those results?
I can’t believe I just read this!
It really gets frustrating when the government tries to meddle with privatly owned schools! They should concentrate on bettering (is that even a word?) the public schools before they start making stupid irrelvant rules that are not helping out!
A relative of mine is a teacher at a school, and she says that until today nothing has been done to fix the school up, the tiles in the gym are still falling on a daily basis. They came back one sunday morning and all the light fixtures in the gym were hanging down nearly hitting the floor.
My 6 year old cousin is in a public elementary school, and on a daily basis he gets harrassed by the older boys.
I graduated from a private school that was mixed, and I don’t see that it has changed me into becoming a “bad” girl like those people think those private schools turn its Kuwaiti students. On the contrary, it has taught me so much more than a public school ever would. Not only do the private schools offer more class choices they also offer after school activities that broaden the minds of the students.
Although I admit we had some bad teachers, our school was HARD, and we had some AMAZING teachers. I also learn to respect people from all around the world and not be extremly judgemental. Also, we are eventually going to work with men, we need to view them as colleagues and friends and not be scared of them.
There is nothing wrong with the mixing of boys and girls fore educational reasons! Girls and boys see things differently and it would be better for them to be in class rooms together to be able to understand each other, and also gain respect for each other.
Sorry this reply is extremly long, but I feel VERY strongly about the segregation of sex’s it annoys the HELL out of me. Our parents CHOSE to pay money to put us in those schools, they know what is in there, so if you don’t want your children to be in mixed schools do not put them there, and leave those schools alone. Thanks 🙂
Yes, Chirp, bettering is a word.
And you comment is thoughtful, and contributes greatly to the discussion. I particularly like: “we are eventually going to work with men, we need to view them as colleagues and friends and not be scared of them.”
I feel the same way. I also think all this blogging is a very good thing for young people in learning how one another thinks about things. It’s kind of cool, learning what people are like on the inside before seeing what they look like on the outside. We all judge so much on appearances; this is kind of cool because we evaluate more on the substance of what other people are thinking.
Thank you, Chirp, and all of you who contributed so thoughtfully and passionately.
We went to protest against the segregation of the private schools today, i mean its ridiculous what the ministry is doing. Im telling you, the buzz around foreigners now. If ministry does imply the law..everybody leaves the country, including me. THIS country is going backwards! WHAT THE F*CK.
Dear Student – we really don’t get a lot of input into the decision making process around here, and I am really really delighted you went in person to the protest, to support your views. Good for you!
God created us male and female, and we occupy the same world. We all have to learn to get along, don’t we? And that starts as young children, and as we go to school together. We share ideas, we compete for grades, we learn who we are and we learn how to get along with people not like us. That’s how I see it.
THIS IS SO RETARDED.
WHY ON THIS PLANET EARTH ARE THEY SEGREGATING PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES???? AND IS THIS 1 STEP AWAY FROM PRIVATE SCHOOLS???? NOT TO MENTION MALLS?!??!
What about rape? Isn’t that going to increase because of segregation?? (like it already isn’t!)
They have already cancelled events like Charity day and Talent show at school BECAUSE of the great ministry and there even greater decisions which has everyone pissed..
And does this mean I can’t go to France and Belgium for a school trip this year?
PATHETIC.
Danchooo – God willing, your generation will take over soon and change all of this. There is a coalition of ministers putting a lot of pressure on the minister of education to insure that ALL schools, private and public, university on down, are segregated.
I’m not so sure they want women in the workplace, either. They sure don’t want them in ministerial positions.
Class trips – I am betting they are a thing of the past.
The whole idea of segregating private schools in Kuwait is completely backward and ill-thought out.
For Kuwaiti Ministry of Education segregation, enter “USA in the 1950s” into Google.
Segregated classes? They will have huge implications on the standards of education overall!
The top private English and Americans schools will either have to bite the bullet and go “all-girls” (probably not, as more boys enter private education in Kuwait. Most families send the girls off to government school as the think them less important) or “all boys”, leading to huge discipline problems without the girls to keep them in order!
There is also the issue of staffing. Private schools will have to employ more staff to effectively teach more classes i.e. the same lesson in two rooms with two staff, rather than one mixed lesson with one teacher! This will ultimately lead to an increase in expenditure on wages.
And lets face it, after the debacle of the illegal 2003 purple school sackings, can we trust the management (some fair, some ruthless) of these schools maintain the current salaries of teachers under these circumstances?
It seems unlikely, if these staff are teaching lesser numbers in their classes.
Don’t the so-called experts at the Kuwait MoE (yes folks, the ones who all had mixed education themselves!) realise that its hard enough to get teachers in Kuwait at all – let alone “good” teachers!
If salaries are not maintained, conditions of service are reduced, and economic factors worsen: the falling KWD against the GBP and Euro, rising rents from ruthless Kuwaiti landlords to grossly inflated shop prices, FOREIGN TEACHERS WILL NOT COME TO KUWAIT ANYMORE.
Then there is the issue of classroom availability. Are there enough rooms in the schools constructed in the 1960s, 70s and 80s to enforce segregated education? Quite simply, No. There are not.
Add to this the social aspect of segregated schooling. There are enough Kuwaiti boys walking the streets already HOLDING HANDS “WITH THEIR FRIENDS.” Is this the kind of society that the Kuwait MoE wants to create?
Islamic tradition is one thing, but Islamic values in the modern world are another. The values and message of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) are good ones, and segregation was not his message. We are all Allah’s children, brothers and sisters.
Having girls in schools also makes a large number of younger Kuwaiti boys – who do not share the values of the fathers and grandfathers – a lot more respectful to women.
I really hope this issue makes the non-taxing paying people of Kuwait sit up and take issue with those in control. It is often said that people get the government they deserve. I think the Kuwaiti people are better than segregation, but this may be the first great test of how democratic this country is or ultimately, is not.
Segregation is not and Islamic value. And it was despised by men such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
q8expat2000 – Brava/bravo! I agree. We have already seen a huge exodus of good Western teachers going to Qatar, Dubai, China, anywhere but Kuwait. The Katherine Phillips case last summer had a huge impact; when arbitrary travel bans can be imposed on teachers who discipline, by parents, out of spite, education suffers.
I have nothing against private girl schools and private boys schools for those ultra religious families who prefer them. I think there needs to be a choice.
The prophet Mohammed was accessible to women. They often approached him to discuss a problem, a thorny spiritual or moral question. He never hesitated to discuss with women, and his first wife, Khadija, was a model of the modern day Kuwaiti businesswoman. She ran a business and gave her husband moral support, believed in him, and he never married anyone else while he was married to her. I would LOVE to hear what Khadija would have to say about segregated schools!
Hello all !
Im Syrian , and I was born in Kuwait . When I went to school , I went to public ( segregated ) schools (from Middle school to high school ) . The only time when I was not in a segregated schooling was elementary . Things were great them , as there was no problems with fellow girl classmates . After I finished , I was going to be in all-boys schooling until I finished grade 10 from high school . Honestly , I lack connection with the opposite sex due to a lack of communication with them . That particularly stayed with me , even after my family emigrated to Canada for 9 years . Being in a western society really gave me a terrible culture shock , which was also affected by segregation at younger age . Even here I had a great deal of anxiety and a terrible sense of disconnection . It is simply not healthy at all to separate the sexes , because it is dividing human beings from getting to know one another . Being human is the common denominator in both .
The way the segregation work is to think of the boys and girls in Kuwaiti society as rabbits who cant stop having sex , and have wild orgies and have many bastard children as a result . In truth , from this amount of segregation and repression results in lowered understanding of the opposite sex , and make things much harder when the issue of marriage is concerned . You cannot have a successful marriage or relationship while having emotional and psychological walls that are continually being built year after year in the schooling system , because education simply takes a great length of time as the leading task in many of the youth that live there .
I think that what human beings and members of society think of morality regardless of religion can be put to action by the people themselves , without having an ass-kicker to discipline us to mend our ways , but the true discipline comes from within .
Honestly , I do have faith in the ability of the reformation of the education system . When I was in middle and high school , many things happened . First , I was nearly tied to a flag in the middle of the morning , myself and a fellow Kuwaiti student . Our crime was me asking the student where he bought a glove was wearing , the timing was the biggest factor , because it was at the end of the flag salute . I always respected Kuwait and it’s flag , but being tied up to a metal flag post with the sun nearing the middle of the sky is not a good way to teach things about respecting a flag of a country that you will never be a true member of its society .You don’t burn peoples back to force their respect . Other very useful teaching methods included slapping , chocking , a beating by bambo and rulers , being forced to face the wall for an hour , beating with chairs , and the theft of our lunches , because it is in the cafeteria area . The principle of the school was called “the lunch thief ” at the time around the school . Other ways of good education was the ignorance of sexual harassment and near molestation by the students in front of the very eyes of a pleasant Mauritanian teacher with a great sense of moral ethics towards his class . I was encouraged by my fellow students and friends/brothers to go and tell the school , but all I could say is ” … I can’t say anything ” due to shame . The great irony of things that one of the fellow Kuwaiti students that was very hostile to me actually stood up and said ” What do you think you are doing ? this should not occur !” , while the students that did this were my best “friends” .
Luckily , the positive change happened in Ramadan of all months . Beating was disallowed by teachers , but they still brought their rulers with them . ” It’s illegal and all now , but I won’t hesitate to use this ” was what they said . I left Kuwait in 2000 and never came back since , and I wonder how things are like now in the segregated society .
Wow. Mohammed, you wrote a long and very thoughtful summary of your experiences in the segregated schools. You are articulate, and good at giving a full picture of what you experienced. I hope one day you will be a writer, and publish some of your observations. I am also wondering if you will be going into teaching. You sound like a compassionate and insightful man who would be a good role model in the school system.