KUWAIT: The Civil Service Commission has declined to designate employment levels for expat workers in the Ministry of Education, in order to designate those positions for Kuwaiti workers so long they qualify for the role, excluding non-Kuwaitis such as, children of Kuwaiti mothers, stateless people and GCC citizens.

"These suspensions are mostly in managerial positions or in specialties where national workers are available, however, they do not include teaching positions, as new schools are being opened each year," sources told Kuwait Times. It is worth noting that 25 percent of teaching positions could not be localized, so new teachers are needed to fill them.

In addition, "specialized teaching positions such as in the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology need expatriate forces to work in them," sources added. More specifically, there are currently 88,348 teachers, of which 63,955 are Kuwaiti nationals, while 24,393 are expatriates.

On another point, the Ministry of Education will release end of service payments to a number of expatriate teachers who the ministry has terminated as part of its Kuwaitization policy. Around KD 78 million has been allocated in the budget for these rewards, the sources said, noting that the budget could increase if there more names are added to the list before the end of the year.