The Education Disaster in Kuwait
Al Qabas, Kuwait, August 31
I won’t cease to draw attention to the crisis of education or stop warning of its long-term effects. I no longer think of this as a mere conspiracy theory; I am increasingly convinced that some powerful figures are actively working to oppress educational progress to keep the population of Kuwait subjugated. The less education there is in our nation, the easier it is to manipulate people and refashion them in the mold of extremist ideologies. A disturbing statistic has emerged from the Department of Social and Psychological Service in the Kuwaiti Ministry of Education: Out of the 2021-2022 academic year’s student population, 24,000 students have failed their matriculation exams; 7,000 are unaccounted for; 20,000 are dealing with health issues; and 676 are struggling with mental illness. To make matters worse, 343 cheating cases were recorded. Relative to the nation’s size, this appears to be one of the highest such occurrences in the world—a sign that cheating has unfortunately become an accepted fact of life in many Kuwaiti households. The report showed that a total of 70,000 students had registered with the Social and Psychological Service Department, representing 18% of all Kuwaiti students. There were 1,340 cases of verbal and physical aggression against teachers, 19 cases of assault and harassment, 1,357 cases of students smoking and consuming alcohol and drugs, and 2,567 students were reported to be skipping classes. As overwhelming as the numbers appear, they reveal the lack of ethics prevalent in our society. The situation appears to be worsening because religious parties are taking over our schools, slowing and curbing the development of our youth. The official report concluded with a set of recommendations. However, the unwillingness of certain parties to take them seriously, along with student and parental cooperation being increasingly difficult, has made the situation worse than the official figures might reveal. —Ahmad al-Sarraf (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)
