Expats join other teachers in filing case against MoE
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KUWAIT CITY, Dec 17: Scores of expatriate teachers of government schools joined thousand other teachers to file a case against Ministry of Education in which they compelled the ministry to cancel the decision of reducing their housing allowance from KD 150 to KD 60, and reimburse the deducted monthly amount of KD 90 retroactively from April 2011.
Such a move was made after the new Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mohammad Al-Fares, similar to his predecessor Dr Bader Al-Essa, declared that the ministry is striving to ensure the decision to reduce the housing allowance is reviewed.
In the same context, sources affiliated to the ministry said first batch of 20 expatriate teachers filed a case against the ministry last Thursday to demand the reinstatement of housing allowance in full. They indicated that more batches of teachers will follow in the coming days to demand the rights of about 40,000 expatriate teachers in the government schools.
The sources explained that the cases were filed after the expiry of the 60 days stipulated by the law for filing grievances as the initial legal step. However, the ministry did not do anything serious to respond to their grievances, which was in demand for stopping the deduction of KD 90 from their housing allowances. Therefore, the teachers took the next legal step, which is to file a case against the government.
Meanwhile, Civil Service Commission (CSC) has declined to approve disbursement of remote-area allowance for expatriate teachers, restricting such an allowance only for Kuwaiti and GCC teachers, reports Al Qabas quoting informed sources. They lamented that such a decision by CSC is a blunder related to legal financial rights and could create problems in the educational process and lead to unnecessary discrimination among teachers.
The sources said the ministry is obliged to execute CSC’s decision related to the remote-area allowance, taking in consideration the fact that Kuwaiti teachers living in those areas will not receive this allowance. They indicated that such a decision has sparked anger among the expatriate teachers who then demanded for transportation to and from those remote areas.
The sources stressed that this decision follows a series of blunders and unstudied decisions which negatively affect expatriate teachers especially those assigned to teach in remote areas like Sabah Al- Ahmad area.
By Rana Salem Al-Seyassah Staff
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