Thriving black market to buy ‘teacher’ titles

KUWAIT: Well-informed sources said the recent Civil Service Commission decisions banning the recruitment of holders of educational degrees who have other professions mentioned in their work permits have created a black market to purchase ‘teacher’ job titles. The sources added that scores of teachers who had arrived in Kuwait years earlier holding visas with other job titles are purchasing the ‘teacher’ title through private institutes and schools for KD 800-1,000 in return for transferring those teachers’ residency visas, so that they can later apply to work at the education ministry.

The sources underscored that during a meeting with CSC, education ministry officials had warned that the decisions would be a golden opportunity for visa traffickers at private schools and institutes, as well as affect local recruitment. “The education ministry also warned that many expats with accredited educational degrees and enough experience arrive in Kuwait using other types of visas, but the CSC did not pay heed”, the sources added.

The sources expressed displeasure with the recent CSC decisions, noting that they will have a short-term negative impact on the educational process, adding that CSC had, over the past few days, rejected the recruitment of scores of teachers who had met all recruitment conditions and passed the necessary job interviews, passed all medical tests, completed all formal procedures such as fingerprint tests and resigned from their earlier jobs, only because they have other job titles in their work permits. “Other teachers’ contracts have been terminated after they were actually assigned to designated schools and officially started work. Who will make it up for the injustice of getting terminated only a few days after recruitment and resigning from previous jobs?” the sources demanded, warning that the education ministry will face a critical shortage of teachers next year, namely in subjects where Kuwaiti teachers are few, taking into consideration it costs the ministry considerable amounts of money to recruit teachers in these subjects from abroad.