Only 804,251 expats in Kuwait are literate

108,878 out of 2.95m are degree holders

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 20: Recent statistics by the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) indicates that only 804,251 expatriate personnel can read and write, 89,282 of them are illiterates, and 500,337 of the total 2.950 million expatriates who are over 15 years old are intermediate certificate holders, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

The statistic was sought by the daily subsequent to a recent report by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor regarding plans to link the residence of expatriate workers with their academic qualifications.

It added that 108,878 of expatriates are degree holders, while 51,677 have diploma and 214,025 are secondary certificate holders. It revealed that 38,196 of the 108,878 graduates are working in public sector (21,153 male and 17,043 female), while 79,277 are out of jobs.

It added that 3,708 expatriates are post graduate degree holders of which 643 are working in public sector, while 1,913 are in the private sector and 27 are jobless. It stated that 51,677 diploma holders are employed in public and private sectors respectively, and the remaining 796 are out of jobs. Out of the 214,025 secondary certificate holders, 4,629 are jobless, while 494,101 of the total 500,337 intermediate certificate holders work in public and private sectors, and the remaining 6,236 are out of jobs.

The statistic indicated that 99,598 elementary certificate holders of the total 101,322 work in public and private sectors respectively, and 1,724 are out of jobs.

It revealed that 799,698 of the total 804,251 who can read and write are working in public and private sectors, and 4,553 are unemployed, while 88,451 of the total 89,282 illiterates are in public and private sectors respectively, and 831 are unemployed.

It reiterated the status of 219,674 expatriate workers is not clear.