New services included in retirees health insurance

Presided by minister Dr Jamal Al-Harbi, the Ministry of Health’s undersecretaries council held a meeting yesterday where they decided to include cardiac services, tumors, dental fittings and knee surgeries in the new tender for the retirees health insurance project ‘Afya.’ The council’s secretary general and assistant undersecretary for services affairs Dr Mahmoud Al-Abdul Hadi said that the new tender will be offered for public bidding soon. Commenting on plans to increase expats health services’ fees, Abdul Hadi re-affirmed the statements made by minister Harbi about imposing the increase on visiting expats first.

KAC board

Chairman of the parliament’s committee formed to investigate the resignation of Kuwait Airway’s former board chairperson Rasha AlRoumi, MP Khalil Al-Saleh said that the committee will meet again today in order to continue the investigation in the presence of Minister of Social Affairs and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh.

Geographical limitations

Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mohammed Al-Fares said that the ministry failed to hire more than 105 Palestinian teachers for the coming school year due to what he described as ‘geographical limitations’. Fares added that many of the applicants rejected the contracts on grounds that the salaries paid to expatriate teachers were way below bar. Fares said that a future plan will be set to provide learning opportunities for all high school graduates in higher education facilities and institutions. Academically, Fares stressed that the ministry was currently consulting with Saudi Arabia’s national center for educational development to make use of the kingdom’s experience.

Connection

The private education directorate seeks to become electronically connected and to automate all transactions and procedures done with the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Manpower Public Authority, said informed sources noting that all Arab, foreign and bilingual private schools were urged to provide the directorate with full data about their staffs. The sources said that the schools received letters from the directorate’s director Sanad Al-Mutairi demanding the data to be sent in hard copies as well as electronic ones.

Penal measures

The Public Authority for the Disabled Affairs’ deputy director for educational and rehabilitation services Majed Al-Saleh said that all Arab and foreign schools, nurseries and other institutions certified by the authority had been notified to correct remarks made by inspection teams within a month in order to avoid further penal measures that might go as far as license withdrawal. Saleh explained that some of the remarks were made about the location and suggested finding alternative ones.