Rules for teachers, report schools for Threats

KUWAIT: On Thursday Kuwait Times interviewed Sanad Al-Mutairi, Manager of Private Education Department within the Ministry of Education, to clarify some issues related to private schools. Kuwait Times has received many complaints regarding the school closures. One school principal threatened to cut the salaries of any teacher not in Kuwait during the period of the closures.

Other schools have been forcing teachers to meet and come to campus despite the closures. Another concern is that some schools may deduct from their teachers’ salaries due to the two weeks, which was a Cabinet decision to suspend schools for students and administrative bodies working in public and private schools and institutes, starting from March 1, until March 12, 2020.

Replaying to that, Mutairi said, “The decision is due to circumstances and a crisis in the country and based on the decision of the Council of Ministers, no school has the right to deduct the two-week suspension of schools from teachers’ salaries.” He advised any teacher that faces problems in this regard to file a complaint to the Private Education Department in order to do the necessary actions toward these schools.

Regarding E-learning that was implemented in some schools, he revealed that his department did not receive any official decision yet. “Although nothing is official, I believe that e-learning in schools will be activated through the so-called ‘educational television’ to make teachers interact with students, and until this moment we have not received any new instructions regarding that,” he said.

“The schools’ e-learning is optional to parents and students and there is no decision yet to obligate both sides. The e-learning now is an agreement with both sides,” he added. Mutairi added that the decision to extend the school suspension is up to the health ministry to make. “Till now the cases are stable in the country, and it is expected that students will back to schools on March 15. But if the situation worsens and the number of cases rises, it is possible to extend the suspension for the educational institutions,” he said.

Some school are considering canceling the spring break to catch up on what was missed. In this regard, Al-Mutairi told Kuwait Times that: “The school does not have the right to cancel the spring break without the approval of the Ministry of Education, An official circular must be issued to approve that decision, and nothing was released yet.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education announced on its official Instagram on Wednesday that teachers and students in Arabic schools (public and private) can use the “Siraj” application to keep on track if they choose to do so. This e-learning platform has not been mandated as a requirement.

The Ministry affirmed that the student and teacher can use the remote study through the educational channel “Siraj” that has been started broadcasting since 2013 where it includes approximately 700 records of reviews and previous exams for high school. Officials from the health and education ministries met to determine the latest preparations for the return to schools, in the context of precautionary measures to counter the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The gatherers agreed to start distributing thermometers to schools from Sunday with two for each school, besides providing nursing bodies for new schools and launching awareness campaigns for students, teachers, and administrative staff to prevent the virus from spreading. LINK

IKEA and a new extension to 360 Mall

After lunch my friend wanted ice cream so I suggested Marble Slab in 360 so we could get ice cream and check out the new IKEA. It's located in the new extension of 360, you cross over on a covered walkway leading you to an airy mall full of plants and greenery. There are several stores open like Addidas, New Balance, Calvin Klein, Polo and a few cafes and restaurants. The food hall has yet to open so in the future there will be more to choose from. 

The IKEA is a mini one level version with a little coffee shop, unfortunately no restaurant or place to get shawerma and hot dogs which is a bit disappointing.

 There was furniture, rugs and some household items but not much to choose from.

One of the beautifully decorated restaurants was a small extension of Dar Hamad, decorated in wood made to look like the roof of old Kuwaiti houses.

There will be a tennis court and Grand Hyatt Hotel opening soon and will be connected to the mall.

'Grand Hyatt Kuwait will offer its visitors 261 standard rooms of 130 square feet (40 square meters) each and will be designed by RTKL architects who already built the iconic 360 Mall, using sophisticated, innovative and unique design and architecture features.'

 The new leisure of the hotel will also include more than 390,000 square feet (120,000 square meters) of luxury shopping markets facilities and a sports Tennis Complex with more than 7.600 seats arenas, with both indoor and outdoor courts for its guests to enjoy.

Kuwait private schools trying to force teachers back to Work

With all that is going on in Kuwait concerning the Corona virus the cabinet has suspended all schools, universities and college activities until March 12, 2020. Sadly, that doesn't stop private schools from trying to force their teachers back to school or risk losing their jobs.

 

They took away their spring vacation!

I've also seen another text from a school telling teachers they need to return to school to set up online classes for their students. They also advise teachers on vacation in countries with corona virus to go back to the UK and fly to Kuwait from there to avoid quarantine.  Unfortunately managers of school are not taking this seriously and only worried about satisfying the owner's bank account. Greed is blatantly obvious in all private schools, the way some schools treat teachers as prisoners is disgusting and no one does anything about it.

Bullying young teachers, not allowing adequate time for teachers to have their breaks or lunches, not willing to put their teachers on school visas, holding onto their passports, taking money from their salary without notification and more problems teachers don't voice for fear of backlash. Sadly there is no department within the MOE to ensure private school teachers are taken cared of. The only time the MOE gets involved is to do a raid on schools known for having illegally hired staff.

There should be a number for teachers to be able to report what goes on in their school without fear of getting into trouble but that would make sense right?

Corona Virus Kuwait 2020

Yes, the Corona Virus has hit Kuwait thanks to those to who came back from Iran which is now the epicenter for the disease in the middle east. As of today there are 45 confirmed cases and the travelers from Iran are being quarantined in Al Kout Beach Hotel, not a hospital. I was shocked to learn that the people weren't in hotels but in a hotel in which the staff have found themselves in the middle of this problem and cannot leave either. There are reports of citizens who were under home quarantine left their house and went out to work and clinics.

Most people are told to avoid the Fahaheel and Mangaf areas but most of the people who visit Iran live in city areas like Rumathiya and Jabriya so it's better to take precautions and stay home of possible. Schools have been told to take an extra two weeks off after this week, my kids are happy with that.

UPDATE: It looks like people are being removed from Khairan resort by 9 am tomorrow as 236 chalets will be used to quarantine people. Nearly 400,000 people will return after holidays.

The above videos are all over social media, showing how angry people are at being held in the hotel. I feel sorry for the staff and medical people who are being yelled at for doing their job, they are mostly expats and are only doing what they are told. Outside of the hotel there are army personnel walking the perimeters with guns.

I don't know who owns the hotel but this isn't good for business and after this is over with I don't think anyone will book there again, the government might as well just buy it.

All National Day activities have been canceled and from what I've read staff from the Ministry of Health have been called back to work and their leave canceled. Only time will tell what comes of this situation, we all need to pray for a good outcome and no deaths.

You can find a real time map of the virus here