Ministry of Schooling processes visas for 650 lecturers caught outdoors Kuwait
Kuwait city.
Image source: Reuters
Kuwait City: While the Kuwaiti government is working to bring back 2,000 expat teachers stuck abroad, the Ministry of Education announced that it has processed visas for around 650 teachers expected to return to the country by mid-month, local media reported.
Some of the teachers have been stranded outside of the country for over a year and a half due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like all residents entering the country, teachers need a dose of one of the approved vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson) and a valid residence permit.
For those who have expired residence permits, the Ministry of Education is working with the Ministry of Interior to give them a new entry visa so they can enter the country.
Since mid-July, around 1,620 teachers who want to return to Kuwait have registered on the official website of the ministry.
Return to school
The move comes as the Ministry of Education plans to resume face-to-face learning for all schools from September. There is a lot of confusion on this matter and it is unclear whether all schools will fully return to face-to-face teaching.
Even if the matter has not yet been resolved, the Ministry of Health has also joined the effort and started vaccinating children between the ages of 12 and 15 on Sunday.
For teachers and people over the age of 16, the Ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, has given priority to this particular segment, especially since face-to-face exams were held last month. Students in grades 10 to 12 from different schools took personal exams after a heated debate over whether or not it was safe.
school closings
All schools, kindergartens and universities have been closed since March 12, 2020 due to growing concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
After a seven-month hiatus, all public schools started the 2020/2021 school year online. Private schools have continued the e-learning method since the beginning of the pandemic.
The only schools that have received the green light for face-to-face teaching are schools for children with special needs, which resumed classes on December 20th.
