Assembly panel discusses plan to return to school

Call to amend domestic helper law • Govt denies meeting MPs to remove ministers

KUWAIT: The National Assembly’s educational committee yesterday discussed with Education Minister Ali Al-Mudhaf a proposed plan for the return of students to school, head of the panel MP Hamad AlMatar said. Matar said the minister gave the committee three scenarios for the return of some half a million students to schools after more than one year of interruption because of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the first scenario, all students could return to school, provided the ministry gets clearance from the emergency ministerial committee on the coronavirus. Under the second scenario, students will return partially for a few days every week, while teaching will be online for the remaining days.

The third scenario calls for the continuation of distance learning, provided the current system is upgraded, said Matar, quoting the minister. The lawmaker said that an expanded conference will be held after Eid Al-Adha, which starts on July 20, to discuss the three scenarios and select the best among them.

Matar also called yesterday for amending parts of a law governing the work of domestic helpers in the country to regulate the deportation of absconding housemaids. The lawmaker said under the current law, the interior ministry can deport absconding housemaids without informing their employers, and the airfare is borne by them. He demanded that penalties should be stiffened against those who provide shelter to absconding domestic helpers. Matar said that the cost of recruiting a domestic helper has jumped to KD 2,000, adding that sponsors should not be asked to pay KD 500 for institutional quarantine for returning domestic helpers.

MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji yesterday asked Interior Minister Sheikh Thamer Al-Sabah to confirm reports about a stateless man who obtained Iranian nationality and was later granted Kuwaiti citizenship. He said the man was later appointed in a sensitive security post.

Meanwhile, the government yesterday denied media reports that a meeting was held between MPs and government officials to unseat ministers. Government Spokesman Tareq Al-Mezrem refuted on Twitter reports that “His Highness the Prime Minister is aware of it (the meeting) to ask for the removal of some ministers from the government”.