KUWAIT: The Ministry of Higher Education in Kuwait is enforcing new strict guidelines for students wishing to freeze their government-funded scholarships abroad. This move follows a 2023 report by Kuwait’s Audit Bureau, which identified the freezing of scholarships as one of the primary causes of students being expelled from their approved scholarship programs. The report, which examined data from the 2019-2020 academic year, highlighted this issue as a significant factor in scholarship disruptions.

As part of ongoing efforts to address challenges faced by students abroad, the ministry has ramped up its review of scholarship policies. Dr Adel Al-Adwani, the former Minister of Education and Higher Education, has entrusted a specialized committee with the task of conducting a comprehensive review of scholarship regulations. This initiative is part of a broader strategy to align Kuwait’s scholarship programs with national educational goals, ensuring they benefit both students and the country’s long-term development. This review is particularly crucial given the substantial annual cost of the scholarships, which is estimated to be around KD 600 million, Economist Mohammed Al-Baghli wrote in Al-Jarida.

New guidelines

Under the new regulations, students are no longer permitted to freeze their scholarships before they have been dispatched abroad. However, students may request a deferral for up to one academic year if they are unable to obtain a travel visa, if they face health issues (provided they submit an official medical report), or for other reasons that are deemed acceptable by the Ministry of Higher Education. The ministry has also clarified that students can only freeze their scholarships after receiving a recommendation from the Cultural Office and obtaining official approval from the ministry. If a student faces unexpected circumstances that require them to leave their study destination, they must submit a formal request to the Cultural Office at the beginning of the academic year or semester to suspend their scholarship.

In situations where a student is unable to secure admission to a recommended university for reasons beyond their control, their scholarship can be frozen for a maximum of one year for universities operating on an annual system, or for two semesters for those with a semester-based system. Furthermore, if a university refuses to allow a student to repeat a failed academic year and the Cultural Office is unable to find an alternative university, the scholarship will be frozen until the student is admitted to a recommended institution. If a student fails their exams and the university only permits them to sit for final exams, the scholarship will be frozen until two months before the exams, after which it will be reinstated.

The ministry also emphasized that scholarships will be frozen if a student accumulates three consecutive warnings, or four separate warnings, and has only one academic year remaining before graduation. Similarly, if a student exhausts all opportunities to continue their scholarship due to repeated failures in the annual system but still has one academic year left, the scholarship will be suspended until they gain admission to a recommended university. Finally, if a student’s GPA falls below the required level and they are suspended from their university, their scholarship will be frozen until they receive acceptance from an approved institution.

These new guidelines are part of a broader effort by the Ministry to enhance oversight and ensure that Kuwait’s scholarship programs effectively support students in their academic journeys. — Agencies