The Educational System in Kuwait - Essay Example

Chapter The Educational System in Kuwait 1 The Kuwaiti Educational System Primary learning was introduced in Kuwait in the year 1887. At that juncture, the ‘Alkatateeb’ or writers conducted the education process. Classes were usually conducted in the mosques, and knowledge of the Holy Quraa’n, and the fundamentals of reading, writing and arithmetic were taught to the children who attended these classes. This state of affairs continued until the year 1911, when the first school for boys was founded. This school was named the Al-Mubarkiya, and it ushered in a novel education system in Kuwait. Subsequently, AlSaada, the first private school was founded in the year 1922, in this country (MOE, 2009). The Council of Education was established in the year 1936, which effectively made the Kuwaiti government responsible for providing monetary and other resources for education. It also undertook the supervision of teaching. In addition, the Council of Education was made responsible for organising learning, which it did by designing and planning the curriculum to be implemented. The very next year, the Council of Education established one primary school for girls, and two primary schools for boys (MOE, 2009). With the passage of time, education in Kuwait became quite popular. This resulted in a steady increase in the number of prospective students. In response to this development, the Council of Education enlarged the existing schools, by introducing additional classes in them. In the year 1947, a religious teaching institute was formally launched in Kuwait. Thereafter, in the year 1949, Kuwait established a teachers’ training institute, in order to cater to the needs of primary school teachers (MOE, 2009). The Arab Republic of Egypt and other Arab nations, provided some of the funds required by the education system of Kuwait. There was considerable emphasis upon education in the sciences. In the year 1952, the government appropriated to itself the management of education. In this endeavour, Kuwaitis were employed, and technical support was extended by the other Arab nations. Several educational reforms were witnessed in the year 1954, when a restructuring of the study plans and curriculum were undertaken. A restructuring of the learning stages was conducted, and the curriculum was made more flexible, with a view to rendering it more relevant to the cultural and social developments taking place in the nation. With these changes, education at the kindergarten and primary level was for a duration of four years, and in the intermediate and secondary stages it was four years each (MOE, 2009). Upon observing the importance being accorded to craftsmen, the government of the day, in Kuwait, embarked upon an ambitious plan in the year 1955, wherein craftsmen were provided with basic education. This effort was subsequently migrated to the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training. In the year 1963, a teachers’ institute, wherein male and female teachers were trained, was commenced. This institute provided a diploma to students, after they had procured the secondary school certificate (MOE, 2009). In the year 1993, this institute for teachers became the Basic Education College. It awarded a Bachelor of Education degree, after four years of post-secondary school study. In the year 1966, the sole public university in the nation, namely Kuwait University, was established. However, private institutions of learning had been functioning in Kuwait, and since the year 2000 four universities and three colleges, had been established by private entities (MOE, 2009). The State of Kuwait had been established as a nation, around three centuries ago. At that time, it had served the function of a commercial hub for traders and others transiting through this region. In the year 1961, Kuwait became an independent nation and a member of the United Nations (MOE, 2009). Kuwait constitutes an Islamic state whose official language is Arabic. This nation, since its inception, has been ruled by the ALSABAH princess family. This family had been nominated by the Kuwaitis. The current ruler of Kuwait is Prince Sheikh Sabah Alahmad Aljaber Alsabah. Kuwaiti polices and laws are based upon the Holy Quraa’n and the Sunnah, the direct message of the founder of Islam, Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) (MOE, 2009). The Kuwaitis are Aljazeera Arabs, belonging to different nationalities. These include Iraqis, Iranians, and Saudi Arabians. The location of Kuwait is in the north-western area of the Arabian Gulf. Its neighbours are; Iraq to the north, Saudi Arabia to the south, and contiguous borders with the Arab Gulf states. The State of Kuwait is situated between the longitudes 46030′ and 49000′ east, and latitudes 28030′ and 30006′ north. With a land area of 18,000 km2, the State of Kuwait is located in a semi-tropical regions. Kuwait City, located on the northern coast of Kuwait Bay, is the capital of this country (MOE, 2010). The topography of the State of Kuwait is distinguished by even plains that are infrequently dotted with shallow craters and low hills. As such, its terrain is that of a desert that is uneven to a minor extent. The land depicts a gradual gradient from the west and south to the sea level in the east. The southern end of the nation attains a mean altitude of 300 meters above the mean sea level. Furthermore, the climate of Kuwait is practically the same, throughout the year, and it is a hot and dry desert environment. Due to its geographical location, the climate of Kuwait tends to be blisteringly hot, especially during the summer season, when the day temperature in the shade can be as high as 500C. The Kuwaiti winters are short and quite warm (MOE, 2010). As of the year 2009, the Kuwaitis numbered around 3½ million. Among these, 1,344,656 were females and 2,140,225 were males. Moreover, 1.8 million, among this population, were Kuwaitis, who constitute 32.1% of the total population of Kuwait. The other residents of Kuwait belong to various ethnic groups and countries (MOE, 2010). The residents of Kuwait are from as many as 140 different nations, spanning several regions of the world. The majority of the Kuwaitis reside in the capital city and its adjoining residential localities. The preference, in this context, is for the locales that abut the Arabian Gulf coast (MOE, 2010). Source: (Maps.com, 2014) The above map portrays the State of Kuwait, its neighbours, and other contiguous regions. 1.1.1 The structure of general education During the inception stage of education in Kuwait, which commenced in the year 1911, only the primary stage of education was in place, and it served to furnish basic education to the Kuwaiti children. An improvement over this situation was achieved in the succeeding years, due to the establishment of new stages in the learning process. Thus, in the year 1942, a secondary education framework was established in Kuwait. Notwithstanding the presence of the primary and secondary stages of education, the structure of the education being imparted was muddled, on account of the indefinite number of years of study to be undertaken by the students. This number was subject to frequent change, leading to considerable confusion (MOE, 2006). Thereafter, the Council of Education became proactive and established the kindergarten stage for boys and girls aged six years. During the period 1954-1955, the Kuwaiti authorities altered the structure of the educational stages. One of the outcomes was that during the kindergarten stage of education, pupils, regardless of their gender could attend the same school (MOE, 2006). In the year 1961, Kuwait became an independent state. At that juncture, the Ministry of Education engaged itself in the task of developing the indigenous education system, with a view to rendering it capable of meeting the ever increasing requirements of a changing world. The structure of the education system, established in the year 1956, continued till the year 2004. This system required students to undertake two years of study in the kindergarten stage, and four years each in the intermediate and secondary stages of education. With the commencement of the academic year 2004-2005, this setup was altered, and students had to undergo two years of kindergarten study, followed by four years of study at the intermediate stage, and three years of study at the secondary stage MOE, 2010). 1.1.2 Districts and schools This study encompasses six districts; namely, Mubarak Alkabeer, Hawalli, Alfarwaniya, Aljahra, Alasema, and Alahmadi. These have their own exclusive educational district and schools and operate under the control of the Ministry of Education. The table appended below indicates the number of schools in each stage of education, in a district-wise manner. Table ‎2-.1 Number of schools at each educational stage by district Districts Schools Alahmadi Aljahra Hawalli Alasema Alfarwaniya Mubarak Alkabeer Kindergarten 40 25 30 31 35 34 Primary 55 38 36 44 46 30 Intermediate 47 32 31 30 35 24 Secondary 29 16 22 24 25 14 Source: MOE 2009 1.1.3 Pupils in schools To reiterate, there are three levels in every learning stage in the schools of the State of Kuwait. These are the primary, intermediate and secondary stages. A tabular display of the distribution of the number of students at each stage of education, in the districts taken up in this study, is provided below. Table ‎2-.2 Number of schools at each educational stage by district Districts Schools Alahmadi Aljahra Hawalli Alasema Alfarwaniya Mubarak Alkabeer Kindergarten 10968 6225 5574 5195 8937 4912 Primary 31280 22917 18697 16762 27002 13037 Intermediate 24261 18648 17214 16204 21390 12438 Secondary 11703 8365 10278 12023 11029 8723 Source: MOE 2009 1.1.4 Teachers in schools The next table provides a portrayal of the number of teachers at each educational stage, in the districts considered in this study. Table ‎2.3 Number of teachers at each educational stage by district Districts Schools Alahmadi Aljahra Hawalli Alasema Alfarwaniya Mubarak Alkabeer Kindergarten 1028 696 659 669 922 710 Primary 4623 3587 2882 2970 4068 2180 Intermediate 3289 2368 2329 2172 2711 1794 Secondary 2237 1521 1729 2066 1966 1394 Source: MOE 2009 1.2 Educational Challenges in the 21st Century Kuwaiti education is beset with several challenges, which affect its overall structure. These can be classified under various categories, such as cultural, cognitive, economic, political, technological, and social. 1.2.1 Political Challenge A major political issue for Kuwait is its location between Iran and Iraq. This is the most volatile region of the Arabian Gulf. This has exposed, an unwilling Kuwait, to continuing conflict and tension that persisted for several years. Several wars have taken place in this area, which has proved to be a major hindrance to its development. The Iran-Iraq war of the 1970s lasted for eight long years and resulted in the first Gulf war. Furthermore, on 2 August 1990, the Iraqis blatantly attacked and invaded Kuwait. During this unprovoked depredation by Iraq, the infrastructure of Kuwait was more or less destroyed, and a significant number of innocent civilians lost their life (Aljazeera, 2004). Although, Kuwait had a territory of merely 17,818 km2, the comity of nations did not take kindly to its invasion by Iraq. Thus, 34 nations, after being authorised by the United Nations, decided to combine forces and rid Kuwait of the Iraqis. This action was ably led by the USA and UK, who worked in tandem and deployed one of the largest forces, after World War II. These efforts culminated in the Operation Desert Storm, which commenced on 17 January 1991. Relentless attacks were conducted against the Iraqi troops, and on 26 February 1991, Kuwait was finally rid of the Iraqis (Aljazeera, 2004). Addressing these issues, compelled the educational authorities of Kuwait to take into account all the outcomes and the prior social and political state of affairs. The function of the authorities in this country has been declared in an unambiguous manner. This has been the consequence of democracy and a clear cut constitution. In order to continue this trend, Kuwaiti education emphasises upon strengthening democracy, and according respect for the constitution, laws and regulations. This is to be achieved by means of political education, aptly designed curricula and behavioural practices. An instance of this is provided by the presence of elections in schools, and the study of the constitution. In addition to reinforcing the notion of national unity, there are initiatives to strengthen the spirit of citizenship, loyalty towards the nation, and to enhance the sense of being an integral part of the nation (MOE, 2008). 1.2.2 Economic Challenge Prior to the discovery of oil in the 1930s, Kuwait had a simple economy, which was chiefly based on trading, shipbuilding, pearl diving, and fishing. The locational advantage of Kuwait transformed it into a major commercial centre of the region. From quite a few years, oil has been the principal source of income for this nation, and the oil reserves of Kuwait are dwindling. This has made it imperative to identify an alternative source of income. The true worth of alternatives has been conclusively proved by the success of foreign investment. The majority of the goods in Kuwait are imported. This has created an association between the local market and the global markets. Moreover, consumer conduct has been assessed by educators, as it is an economic challenge to education (MOE, 2008). 1.2.3 Cultural challenge One of the major challenges to education is posed by cultural identity. This is due to the reason that cultural identity is related to values, thoughts and trends. At the same time, schools are exposed to fast paced, uncertain and vast changes. This necessitates expeditious action from policymakers for education. Such speedy action enables the educators to draw themselves abreast with these changes and to face them. Therefore, the Ministry of Education attempted to create relevant and modern curricula that would enhance national identity and embed it into the psyche of the nation. This was to be carried out, while circumventing negative values and consolidating positive values. Such course of action provided immense benefit to the Ministry of Education, which gained from the novel and useful global and cultural developments. Moreover, there was increased attention, with respect to the protection of national identity. As a result, the Ministry of Education attempted to face this challenge in a systematic fashion. The objective was to convey its educational and humanitarian message. 1.2.4 Social Challenge Despite the presence of several groups in Kuwaiti society, it functions as an inseparable whole. This achievement has been facilitated by political unity, compact territory, and the independence of the individual resulting from substantial employment choices and all round economic prosperity. All the same, the Ministry of Education makes concerted efforts to get rid of tension and social conflict, by deploying all its resources. It also develops a permanent sense of nationalism, which is accompanied by extraordinary emphasis upon learning social skills. The latter are regarded as being a crucial source of cohesion in society. 1.2.5 Technological Challenge Among the several challenges envisaged by education, new technology constitutes one of the most formidable challenge. At the international level, vast technological change has transpired. This change actuated the State of Kuwait to undertake suitable and serious action. For instance, the Ministry of Education implemented the general introduction of computers in every school, across the nation. In the year 2008, the Ministry of Education circulated a memo obliging every teacher to pass the International Computer Driving Licence. Moreover, the Assistant Undersecretary for Public Education had declared that 80,000 students of secondary school would be provided with laptops, during the academic year 2011-2012. 1.2.6 Cognitive Challenge Another major challenge being faced by education is that of knowledge explosion. The growth of knowledge has been unprecedented, and it has been hastened significantly by scientific discoveries and excessive specialisation. This situation has compelled education policymakers to seek alternate solutions for addressing the knowledge explosion. Thus, the Ministry of Education has been intending to leverage the existing knowledge and render it functional. The objective is to derive practical benefit from knowledge, instead of merely making students acquire knowledge. In a related development, the Ministry of Education has introduced the facility of searching across the network, in the schools. As show by Alramzi (2009), the Ministry of Education conducted a study of educational traits in the nation. This project was provided with technical support by the National Bank. Alramzi concludes that the principal problems associated with the education process emerged from the curriculum, teacher, and school. This has earned the name ‘silent crisis’, in some quarters. The cardinal issues identified in the aforementioned study had been summarised, by Alramzi as the following. First, 3.7% of the Kuwaitis were literate, whilst 1.7% of the non-Kuwaitis were literate. This was principally with regard to males and females who were 60 years old or more in age. This proportion became 5% upon including the younger Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis. Second, among the population of those in the age range of 4 to 21 years, 26% were in education, and 74% of this group had been registered for general public education. Furthermore, there had been an increase from 3% in the academic year 1990-1991 to 26% by the academic year 2007-2008, with regard to the pupils attending private schools. This increase coincided with the increase in the number of private schools for the academic year 2007-2008, to 480. Thus, the growth rate had been in excess of 40% during the past decade. Third, during the academic year 1997-1998, the expenditure on education had been 524 million Kuwaiti Dinars (KD). This increased, by the academic year 2006-2007 to KD 923 million. This corresponded to a 73.6% increase over the period in question. The average annual increase was 8.2%. As shown by Alramzi, the expenditure incurred on account of education in Kuwait, varied from 8.5% to 10.7% of the general budget of the corresponding period. Approximately, 58% to 80% of the budgetary allocation made to the Ministry of Education had served to defray the expenditure incurred towards salaries and wages. The balance amount had been consumed by other educational requirements, such as maintenance, hardware, goods and services. The proportion of the general budget allocated to education in Kuwait is substantially higher than that obtaining in the developed and rich nations. The average expenditure incurred upon students in public schools, for the academic year 2006-2007 is shown in the table below. School Type Expenditure per Pupil in KD Kindergarten 3411 (£7,565) Primary 2315 (£5,134) Intermediate 2357 (£5,227) Secondary 3359 (£7,500) Source: MOE (2008) Alramzi (2009) perused the data provided by the Ministry of Education and made the following conclusions. She highlighted the fact that during the academic year 2003-2004, an expenditure of 1681 KD had been incurred per student in secondary education in the government run schools. On the other hand, the corresponding figure for the private sector schools was 865 KD. Most interestingly, the performance and success rates in the private sector were, in general, much higher than in the public sector. Moreover, for the very same academic year, the expenditure incurred on education in Kuwait had been 13.3% of the total public expenditure of the Kuwaiti government, which was quite proximate to the 13.6% average expenditure incurred by the nations of Europe. Fourth, Kuwait implemented a 160 day academic year, which was much shorter than the 200 day academic year of the developed countries, who are also the members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Thus, the formal study at the primary stage of education is 576 hours long in Kuwait, in comparison to 815 hours in the OECD nations. With regard to the hours of study in high school in Kuwait, it was 565 hours, whereas in the OECD countries it was 718 hours (MOE 2007, p. 88). As such, Kuwaiti education is six weeks shorter than that of the schools in the OECD countries. As clearly declared in the report, public education at all academic levels had fewer hours of study, in comparison to private education. There could be as much as 70% fewer hours at the intermediate stage, and 50% at the secondary stage. The lesser number of teaching hours has compelled teachers to impart knowledge in a hasty manner, without being able to ensure that their pupils comprehend the material. The deficiency noticed among students, with regard to the analysis, synthesis and application of what has been taught to them, proves this contention. This situation has been cited as one of the reasons behind the proliferation of private tuitions. The students of public schools in Kuwait depict a high rate of failure. The inability to pass in the examination and obtain promotion to the higher class, has been termed as class failure. In comparison to non-Kuwaiti students, Kuwaiti students depict a higher rate of repetition. This situation has been illustrated in the following table, which shows the failure rate of Kuwaiti students in public schools for the academic year 2006-2007. School Kuwaiti Students Non-Kuwaiti Students Primary 2.7% 1% Intermediate 12.6% 7.1% Secondary 29% 24.7% Source: MOE (2007) Alramzi undertook a comparison of secondary level Kuwaiti students for the academic years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. She discerned that the failure rate had increased by 5% for boys and 3% for girls. Moreover, she pointed out that there was an increase in the number of students repeating a grade, during the recent years. In the academic year 2005-2006, 87.5% of the girls and 83.5% of the boys had cleared the examinations. This was with regard to the Kuwaiti students. However, the success rate for non-Kuwaiti students was much higher and stood at 89% for girls and 86% for boys. Even if one were to presume that the issue of repeating a grade had social origins, with regard to Kuwaitis, and was the result of neglect on the part of the students or parents, it depicted a major lacuna in the system of public education. Teachers in public education were constrained to discharge their duties with unflagging zeal. In addition, these teachers had to function in the absence of adequate support services, a paucity of educational tools and scant laboratory assistance. Sixth, the discontinuance rate with regard to studies was substantially high. This was described as withdrawal from a stage of education that had no benefit to offer to the student. Therefore, the unsuccessful student did not find any incentive to complete the education. Attrition tends to thrive after compulsory education ceases, or after the completion of the middle stage. For the academic year 2005-2006, it was shown that the rate of attrition for the secondary stage was 15% for Kuwaiti boys, in comparison to 8% for Kuwaiti girls. The rates relating to repetition of grades and dropouts, at every stage of education, was worse for boys than girls. This has been attributed to the males taking up work in law enforcement, armed forces and other professions. It has been projected that 80% of the Kuwaiti females and 53% of the Kuwaiti males, enrolled in high school, complete their education. Furthermore, it has been projected that 50% of the women and 30% of the men would complete their high school education, without undergoing failure or attrition. Seventh, it has been shown by Alramzi that the award of high school certificates to students is undeserving to some extent. In the Kuwaiti educational system, a pass grade is awarded, quite frequently, to students who should have been failed. The actual competence of the student is exposed at the time of taking admission tests to missions, colleges, and universities. In many cases, substantial gaps have been discerned between the educational achievements of students and their actual capacities. This has resulted in failure and frustration, and the destruction of ambitions. As pointed out by Alramzi, this undesirable situation is the direct outcome of the teachers’ inability to counter the pressures exerted upon them by students and parents. In addition, it depicts deteriorating educational values and social disorder in the educational community. Several reasons have been cited for the phenomenon of awarding high school certificates to the undeserving. A major cause is due to the muddled state of affairs caused by the emergence of certain political problems in Kuwait, which resulted in a conflict between the government and the National Assembly. This produced a deleterious effect upon education. The confusion resulting from this has been such that those who keenly observer Kuwait affairs have been convinced that more than one authority exists in the nation that control education and other national affairs. In addition, corruption has raised its ugly head in the area of education. Consequently, upon providing sufficient illegal gratification, it has become possible for an undeserving candidate to procure a high school certificate. A novel phenomenon in Kuwaiti education is the call for better cadre. This has also been experienced in schools, and several schools and teachers have gone on strike with the objective of obtaining new cadre. This move has been blessed by the Kuwaiti Teachers Association and most of the members of the National Assembly. Eighth, there is a certain amount of absence of competence among the students of public education, of the pre-university sector. The 2003 University of Kuwait tests relating to academic abilities provided some interesting data. The failure rate was 39% for students from public schools, whereas it was 22% for students from private schools. The most glaring among the failure rates were for Mathematics at 67%, and English at 63%. On the other hand Chemistry had the least failure rate at 16%. The conclusion drawn was that observation skills were inculcated in a better manner, in comparison to analytical skills; as Chemistry was more dependent upon observation skills. In international tests of mathematics and science, Kuwait obtained the 39th rank among the 41 nations that had participated (TIMSS 2007). With regard to reading and writing skills, Kuwait emerged a very poor 33rd among the 35 participants in the evaluation of Pearls (PIRLS). This clearly showed that low educational attainments were unrelated to the expenditure incurred upon education. These results clearly established that the educational system of Kuwait was labouring under a multitude of difficulties that demanded the adoption of immediate remedial measures. Ninth, a huge hiatus exists between boys and girls. Due to the high number of repeaters and dropouts among the boys, a corresponding decrease has been noticed in the ratio of males to females at all stages of education, ranging from primary education to higher education. A direct outcome is that the number of female graduates stands at twice the number of male graduates from universities. For instance, at the College of Education, 80% of the students are ladies. Tenth, the student teacher ratio in Kuwait depicts a low number of students per teacher at the primary and secondary stages of education. With respect to the academic year 2007-2008, the government had stipulated a rate of seven students per teacher at the primary stage, and nine students per teacher at the intermediate stage. This was in the area of public education. On the other hand, in private education, the corresponding figures were 18 students per teacher at the primary level, and 17 students per teacher at the intermediate and secondary levels, for the academic year 2007-2008. In comparison, Sweden, a member of the OECD, had the lowest rate of 10 students per teacher, which was followed by Kuwait with 10.2. Morocco had the highest ratio at 27.6. With regard to Kuwait’s private schools, the ratio had been 29.4 at the primary level, 28 at the middle school level and 26.3 at the high school level. Thus, the government and private sectors in Kuwait had nearly the same density classes. On the other hand the OECD nations were experiencing an average reduction of 14%. However, this aspect was not reflected in the results relating to the quality of education provided by the government’s educational system. From the above discussion, it can be concluded that education in Kuwait is beset with several difficulties. These issues have to be addressed and resolved in an expeditious manner, by the educators and education policy makers of the nation. Read More