MoE eyes purchasing 55,000 new air conditioning units for schools

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Higher Education stops registration at five British universities

KUWAIT CITY, April 24: The Director of the Maintenance Department in the Al-Jahra Educational District, Eng. Saad Al-Mutairi proposed that the Ministry of Education purchase air-conditioning units for all schools directly from companies upon warranty, guarantee and maintenance for a period of no less than 5 years, and in some cases even for 7 years, according to the manufacturer of the device, reports Al-Jarida daily quoting educational sources. The same sources said the idea of buying air-conditioners with warranty and maintenance is much better than the process of maintenance contracts that cost the ministry millions of dinars annually to no avail and will solve the crisis of maintenance of these units in schools.

The sources told the daily if the ministry purchases a big number of air conditioners, estimated at 55,000 units, the price will also be lower than the market price, as the unit price will not exceed 160 dinars with a 5-year guarantee, which means that the total cost in around 9 million dinars. The sources added that the value of maintenance contracts in each educational zone amounts to 1.8 million dinars for a period of 3 years only, or about 10 million dinars for all six educational districts while schools suffer from delays and negligence by some companies in carrying out the necessary maintenance work.

Warranty
The sources indicated that the idea of purchasing devices with warranty and maintenance is much better than the process of maintenance contracts that cost the ministry millions of dinars annually, as the suffering of the air conditioning crisis has been going on for years without any radical solutions. The sources pointed out that the school administration will be responsible for keeping a copy from the purchase invoice to communicate with the company and fix faults directly, which will contribute to the speedy follow-up by companies.

The sources stated that the proposal was discussed and approved by the Undersecretary of the Educational Facilities Sector, Eng. Yassin Al-Yasin and submitted it to the Minister of Education and Higher Education for a decision, pointing out that the problems that schools suffer from due to air conditioning maintenance operations annually makes these proposals effective. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Higher Education has suspended the registration and enrollment of Kuwaiti students in five British universities, in addition to stopping registration for a Master’s program specializing in physical education at Yarmouk University in Jordan, reports Al-Wasat daily.

The Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr. Ali Al-Mudhaf has issued a decision in this regard to stop the registration and enrollment of Kuwaiti students for all levels of university and postgraduate studies in some higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. Article 1 of the decision states the registration and enrollment of Kuwaiti students for all levels of university and postgraduate studies in all disciplines remains suspended at the following institutions — Coventry University, London South Bank University, University Of Bradford, Staffdshire University and University Of Sunderland. Article 2 states, this decision does not apply to students who are actually enrolled and continuing to study before the issuance of this decision.

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