MoE suspends local hire of ‘expatriate’ teachers

Al Afasi follows up on attendance of employees

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 25: Ministry of Education has suspended the recruitment of male and female non-Kuwaiti teachers in order to review the conditions and methods used for the recruitment, reports Al-Anba daily quoting informed sources from the educational sector.

They explained that instructions have been issued to suspend local recruitment of teachers after an individual, who is supposedly a “sous chef”, was appointed to work as a teacher, a matter that caused a stir in the educational sector.

Ministry of Education has not stated the period of suspension.

Also, the sources stressed that the ministry has to review the process of distribution of teachers and ensure there is no surplus in any schools, indicating that there are some subjects for which there are surplus number of teachers currently.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Education has announced the formation of a joint committee with Ministry of Interior to add a course to the current curricula concerning security awareness, seriousness of drugs, and social and psychological problems.

In a statement, the ministry indicated that a coordinating meeting was held with Ministry of Interior as part of the national campaign to fight drug usage.

The attendance of the employees of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs is being closely monitored in order to ensure equality and justice among all, reports Al-Rai daily.

The daily quoting reliable sources said, senior officials including those working in the Minister’s office are not exempted from marking their attendance with the Bio-metric Fingerprint Time Attendance Systems.

Minister of Justice and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Dr Fahad Al-Afasi has laid down practical rules for controlling the work process by granting wide powers to administrative affairs department to monitor the entry and exit times of all employees without exception.

“Within the framework of diligence to apply the law, Minister Al-Afasi is looking at attendance records dating back to previous years to ensure compliance with the implementation of procedures and regulations,” a knowledgeable source said.

The source revealed, “the minister has recently received a document for the first three months of 2016 and it includes about 130 employees from various sectors who were not committed to regular attendance, including the former minister Yacoub Al-Sane. Salaries have been deducted for non-compliance of the rules and regulations.”t