Kuwait Education System Essay

This is a study with pileus of Kuwait in focus. Its going to dismember Kuwaiti bringing up with regards to the fol depresseding important factors, efficiency and degree of development of the education establishment, important changes, effects of these changes, most important weaknesses in the availability of human being capital measures to overcome these weaknesses, how good the education service is available and how students from Kuwait perform in internationally comparable test scores. The paper generally to acquire the issue stated. Kuwait is a nation in Middle East.It borders Persian Gulf, which is between Saudi Arabia and Iraq. It has an argona of 17,280 squargon kilometers and a relatively small tribe of about 2,596,779 as per estimates of July 2008. Most of its population is male and almost half of this total population figure constitutes hostileers. Kuwaitis constitute about 80% of the total campaign force as per 2004 estimates. Almost 10% of institutions oil reserv es are in Kuwait and its a relatively cryptical country. Kuwait spends about 3. 8% of its GDP on education. Also literacy levels stand at very towering percentages for instance 93. 3%.Male literacy is higher(prenominal) at 94. 4%compared to females 91% as per 2005 estimates. (The World Fact Book, 2008) Before tackling various issues concerning education its good to go a historical background of the same. Kuwaiti educational system development is largely attributed to the richness of the nation courtesy of oil exportation. In the early 1990s educational facilities were quite few in Kuwait. The schools that were there were Quranic schools called al-katabibs. The Quranic schools taught arithmetic, reading and writing.Public education was non existent in the earlier part pf the 20th century and thus, funds to education came from wealthier nationals. The government took over the educational system in the year 1939and by 1945 it had begun 17 schools. After the WWII when oil production started to pick up, the government likewise brocaded the stake of its r sluiceue that went to education. In mid-sixties Kuwait had 45000 students in its educational system which 18000 were female. Major development in education similarly happened in the 1960s and in 1965 schooling was made compulsory in Kuwait (Kuwait Cultural Office, 2008)The efficiency of the Kuwaiti educational system is explained as follows today in Kuwait there are about 500,000 students in school, which is about 30% of its total population. There are three levels of education in Kuwait and each virtuoso of them takes duration of four years to complete. These levels include elementary, intermediate and secondary. Attending school is compulsory for children in the age bracket of six to fourteen years. All these stages of Kuwaiti educational system are free. From second grade in school, children in Kuwait start studying English language.Kuwaiti parents send most of their children to foreign private schools esta blished in Kuwait. These private schools are usually very prestigious. For example American school of Kuwait. Also this private education, though not richly funded by the state is highly subsidized besides allotment of land for construction of schools and issuance of textbooks. Public schools in Kuwait are a snap different compared to private schools since from frontmost grade, theres segregation of children by sex. Kuwait also ensures equity of education offered to women with that of men.For example the 1989 education initiative, where there was foundation of daytime literacy clinics to benefit women. Kuwaiti government also makes sure that every new school has a library with an expansive book collection. The government also established an education Net which was a project to link each and every government school and library to a telecommunications data network (Kuwait ethnic office, 2008) To explain the various important changes and their effects, an overview on the education system of Kuwait will cover from 1900s.In the early of the 20th century education was aimed at gaining basic literacy and this was in context of religion. The existing schools then were quran schools. Wealthier people sent their children afield for higher education in around 1912 merchants who were interested in their childrens (especially sons) education started private schools. For instance, mubara kiyya school, which was the first modern institution of education. Later on in 1921, an different notable private school was established by the name ahmadiyya school and which was the first to offer English as a subject.Shortly after 1921 the first girls school was established and it taught al-Qaida economics, Islamic studies and Arabic. Education was later put under state control in 1939. Teachers from Palestine started a mission for education which had students being sent abroad for education and also started new schools. As a result, four elementary schools started. An overall nat ional department of education to govern government schools and teachers from Palestine, Syria, Iraq Lebanon and Egypt started a program to ensure secondary education in Kuwait.In around 1945 there were 17 schools in Kuwait. Later in the 1950s rapid changes occurred. for example, the founding of the first kindergarten schools and a first technical college in the pedantic year 1954-55. 80 students were enrolled in this college in the first year. In 1956 the institute for the blind was established. Later on in 1958 an adult education program was started for men. On to 1960s in i1963 an adult education program was started for women. By the year 1970 there were 738,662students in Kuwaiti schools where less than half were Kuwaiti nationals.In 1973 there were 1,644 special needs students and 11 institutes of the special education. Since its initiation in 1956. Jumping to 1982, the number of teachers was a bit high at 24,367 of whom 6,748 only were Kuwaiti. By the academic year 1997-98 th e number of teachers was 27,359 of which 17,357 were Kuwaiti. This changed from 1 3. 76 in 1982 to 1. 71 in 1997-98 academic years. Today the government provides a kitty for each of the education levels in Kuwait namely, elementary, intermediate and secondary school.Another important change is that at university level, a university was established and which was called Kuwait University with the majority of the student body being made up of Kuwaiti. (State University. com, 2008) Kuwait is highly reliable on foreign countries for human capital and thus the problem of human capital in Kuwait. Human capital is a countrys stock of knowledge and skills and it constitutes the arch(prenominal) labor in the economy. Kuwaiti labor force is dominated by non-nationals. There was especially an influx of foreign laborers in Kuwait in the 1970s.Kuwaitis relied at high levels on the labor of expatriates who had high morale from their countries. Kuwaitis have thus become minorities in their own hom e due to high dependence on foreign skilled labor for both private and public sectors. Unemployed nationals of Kuwait as well as nominally employed ones over-rely on the state for easy jobs and welfare. Foreigners are also seen to influence the traditions and cultures of Kuwait. Real employment may also be desired but hardly attainable due to the set social system where nationals lack the skills to fit in the labor market.To remove the dilemma set by this predicament Kuwaitis thus have to think in the lines of the following solutions mulish education to be offered to nation and that befits the national requirements of the labor market, reduction in the number of work visas issued to foreigners and leveling the wage differences between citizens and non-citizens. Some international assessments have been carried out on Kuwait education system. The factors in consideration are schools self-evaluation, and evaluation of teachers.There was a particular study carried out due to low second ary school student participation rates where completion rates were low, repetition was high besides the high drop-out rates. Also students achievements even after high school education are considered as those which are disappointing. This was considered true especially because Kuwait students performed dismally in international assessments of student achievement. To conclude on the study, even though, the government of Kuwait has done a giant leap toward development of its education, a lot remains undone.In focus should be the global applicability of Kuwaitis education and also at national levels. Since todays labor force constitutes about 80% non-nationals, practicability and fitness of the Kuwaiti education should also be among the major issues that require speedy resolution. Generally to ensure this are there from the findings in this study. So the governments ministry of education needs to aim a lot on issues to do with Research and Development as regards issues of practical e ducational development.Incentives to nationals should also be created to take courses at the university level that are similar to those of the non-nationals expatriate staff by even making it more interesting and exciting. More students should also get involved on exchange programs with other students in economies which are performing highly and through their human capital.ReferencesHladczuk, J and Eller, W. 1992. International Handbook of Reading Education Greenwood Publishing Group Kellaghan, T. 2008. Developing sagacity Ca pacityIn The Kuwait Education System. Retrieved on October 25, 2008 fromhttp//www. moe. edu. kw/pages/misc/wathaeg%20feb%202008/wathaeg%20almoa shr%20alwa6ani%2017-19feb%202008/Kalaghan_Report1. doc. pdf Kuwait Cultural Office. 2008. History. Retrieved on October 25, 2008 from http//www. kuwaitculture. com/About%20Us/History. htm State University. Com, 2008. Education In Kuwait- An Overview. . Retrieved on October 25, 2008 from http//education. stateuniversity . com/pages/784/Kuwait- EDUCATIONAL-SYSTEM-OVERVIEW. html The world fact book, 2008. Kuwait. Retrieved on October 25, 2008 from https//www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ku. html