‘Re-evaluate decision to cut teacher’s housing allowances’

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KUWAIT CITY, Nov 11: Assistant Undersecretary for Financial Affairs at Ministry of Education and Higher Education Yousef Al-Najjar revealed that the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Bader Al-Essa has requested the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to reevaluate its decision related to reduction of housing allowance for expatriate teachers from KD 150 to KD 60, in order to either cancel the decision and restore the previous value of the housing allowance or increase it, reports Al-Rai daily.

He said this request is based on the ministry’s responsibility for the rights of the teachers, indicating that the ministry of waiting for the response of CSC in this regard.

Al-Najjar revealed that the ministry pays thousands of dinars for the accommodation of female teachers in the lodging facilities of the ministry. He clarified that the decision to reduce the housing allowance was taken by CSC and that the Ministry of Education is only implementing the decision, adding that it applies to all expatriate and GCC teachers.

Al-Najjar stressed that the ministry will pay the housing allowance of female teachers based on the verdict that preceded the decision of CSC retroactively, indicating that the ministry of waiting for the allocation of necessary budget by Ministry of Finance. Meanwhile, he said the ministry has already started disbursing retirement payments after Ministry of Finance allocated KD 40 million for this purpose, revealing that the new budget of Ministry of Education will include the required amount for retirement payments starting from April 1, 2017, based on the recently-issued law No. 28/2016. He explained that this law includes retirement payments for disabled teachers as well as teachers with disabled guardian or dependent. In addition, Al-Najjar said the Services Department has been transferred from the financial sector to the administrative sector based on suitability, indicating that the Services Department was part of the administrative sector before the Iraqi invasion.

Meanwhile, Board Chairman and Director General of Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) Eng Faisal Al-Hassawi disclosed that PAAAFR has been coordinating with relevant authorities to distribute farmlands along the borders for achieving security and developmental objectives, reports Al-Anba daily. Eng Al-Hassawi affirmed that PAAAFR will allocate lands to all citizens along the borders if they have not received any before, adding that security objective is the main priority of those locations, followed by agricultural development.

He stressed that some projects are under construction and some others are being followed up at the initial stage of execution. Eng Al-Hassawi explained that two companies will allocate some specialized engineers to handle agricultural and technological productions for assisting farmers in strengthening the quality of local products. He indicated that the Kuwaiti shrimp transplant project will see the light of the day within the next few months and many expert Kuwaiti farmers will be part of the project.

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