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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Kuwait
Index
In 1993 Kuwait's population was highly educated, both
in
comparison to other states in the region and in comparison
to its
pre-oil education levels. The impressive education system
was
brought about by a conscious government decision, made
possible
by revenues from oil that began in the 1950s, to invest
heavily
in human resources.
Although the pre-oil education system was modest by
1993
standards, it was still impressive, given the limited
finances at
the time. In the early 1900s, education consisted largely
of
Quran schools offering basic literacy training in the
context of
religious instruction. This system provided some formal
schooling
for nearly all boys and most girls. Wealthy families often
sent
sons abroad for further education. In the first decades of
the
twentieth century, merchants anxious for more extensive
training
for their sons opened a few private schools, notably the
Mubarakiyyah School in 1911 and the Ahmadiyyah School in
1921. In
the 1930s, merchants established the Education Council and
expanded the system to include four new primary schools,
including one for girls. The government soon took over
this
growing system and, with new oil revenues after World War
II,rapidly expanded the system. In 1956 the government
laid down
the basis of the education system that still existed in
1993:
kindergarten and primary, middle, and secondary schools. A
1965
law, largely enforced, made education compulsory until the
age of
fourteen. A small system of private schools also
developed.
Public education, including preschool and higher
education, was
from the beginning free for all nationals and for many
foreigners. The government absorbs not only the costs of
schools
but also those of books, uniforms, meals, transportation,
and
incidental expenses. In preinvasion Kuwait, the majority
of the
students in the education system were non-Kuwaitis (see
table 3,
Appendix).
The apex of the public education system is Kuwait
University,
which the government established in 1966. More than half
the
students at Kuwait University are women, in part because
families
are more likely to send boys abroad for study. The
government
also subsidizes hundreds of students in university study
abroad,
many in the United States.
As a result of these efforts, the school population and
the
literacy rate increased steadily. By the mid-1980s,
literacy and
education rates were high. Although only 55 percent of the
citizen population was literate in 1975, by 1985 that
percentage
had increased to 73.6 percent (84 percent for males and
63.1
percent for females). In 1990 the overall literacy rate
was 73
percent. The total number of teachers increased from just
under
3,000 at independence in 1961 to more than 28,000 in
academic
year 1988-89; the number of schools increased from 140 to
642
during the same period (see
table 4, Appendix).
The education system has its problems, however. For
example,
it relies heavily on foreign teachers. In the late 1950s,
almost
90 percent were non-Kuwaitis. Despite a long-standing
government
effort to indigenize education, the system continues to
rely
heavily on foreigners. The system also often fails to
train
graduates in fields that correspond to Kuwait's most
pressing
labor needs. Especially in higher education, the system
produces
many graduates with training in liberal arts and few with
training in vocational subjects.
Data as of January 1993
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