KUWAIT CITY, March 18: Officials at the Ministry of Education have expressed serious concern about the low standard of education in the country after intensive observation of graduates of the three academic levels, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting an informed source.

He indicated that the ministry officials were also confused about the accuracy in the method of student evaluation, considering the high percentage of success in those levels.
He said the officials were particularly concerned about the sixth grade students in the intermediate level who finished the elementary level and passed the fifth grade with many among them not even knowing how to read or write.

He stressed that several fundamental issues have been included in the files, which the educational officers will review and modify, indicating that the default passing of students in the first three years of elementary stage is faulty, while the standard of education in the fourth and fifth grades is not sufficient enough to prepare the students for the intermediate stage.

He revealed that the aptitude test conducted by the school administrations for the sixth grade students at the start of the new academic year normally result in a large-scale failure and weak performance of the students.

He lamented, “The worst aspect of the situation is that many of the students cannot even read and comprehend the questions”.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education is ready to cooperate with its Interior counterpart in addressing the traffic problem by changing the timings of classes in all academic levels, reports Al-Rai daily quoting Assistant Undersecretary for Public Education Affairs Mohammed Al-Kandari.

Al-Kandari confirmed the representatives of both ministries had earlier agreed on the need to change the school timings to ease the traffic jams in most roads throughout the country. He said the Educational Research and Curriculum Department and other concerned sectors in the ministry will soon lay down a mechanism for the implementation of the proposal.

In another development, Al-Watan Arabic daily has quoted newly-appointed Private University Council Secretary General Dr Habib Abal as saying that he is keen on developing the higher education policy. He intends to take the necessary steps to improve the quality of education offered by private academic institutions.

Expressing his happiness over his appointment, Abal asserted his new post serves as a challenge for him, especially in terms of raising the standard of education in private universities in Kuwait.