KUWAIT CITY, Oct 23: A few psychological and social researchers working at the Ministry of Education staged a protest in front of the National Assembly building Sunday morning, demanding salary increments.
The protesters, all women, complained of complete marginalization of their roles in schools, regardless of the fact that they were university graduates. They displayed placards which read ‘No recognition for psychological and social researchers,’ ‘When will marginalization of psychological and social researchers end in the country?’ ‘We want change of job designation — from researchers to specialists’ and so on.

The protesters demanded salary increments, saying the issue has been sidelined for years and that there is no incentive for employees who play such vital roles in schools. They said they shouldn’t be treated like diploma holders who work as secretaries or in students affairs sections and added that they should be called specialists instead of researchers because they studied four years in the university. They also believed that their protest was timely, considering the spate of protests for salary increments and the plan to discuss teachers’ salary increment issue in the National Assembly on Tuesday. They claimed that the low turnout of protesters was due to refusal of school authorities to allow their colleagues to go out for fear that it might affect agitation for teachers’ salary increment.

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KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s pilgrimage caravans fear strikes of Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) employees, during the pilgrimage season could spell disaster and cause them serious losses, reports Al-Rai daily.
A representative of the caravans Sheikh Yousif Al-Kandari said the strike will not only cause financial losses, but will also lead to a big crisis, especially since there are a lot of pilgrims this year and all flights are completely booked. He said most caravans take their pilgrims on national carriers of Kuwait or Saudi Arabia. More than 4,500 pilgrims are booked on Kuwait Airways’ flights, he added.