Teachers in Kuwait protest, oppose use of fingerprint attendance system

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KUWAIT CITY, Feb 11: The Ministry of Education’s schools yesterday morning launched a project to implement the electronic fingerprint system on an experimental basis for the employees of government schools to record their entry and exit, along with the paper signature. Because of this, the schools at all levels recorded unprecedented attendance and commitment, especially by some teachers who are accustomed to not being disciplined in terms of attendance in the morning.

Meanwhile, about 70 teachers held a protest in front of the Ministry of Education building yesterday morning against the application of the fingerprint attendance system for teachers in schools. They clarified that they are not against the application of the fingerprint attendance system but that it must be flexible and implemented at the beginning of the school year and after the organizational structure of the ministry is approved. In this regard, one of the protesting teachers Abdullah Al-Sharif said the sit-in does not represent an objection to the fingerprint system, but rather to its implementation, as it must take into condition several aspects, the most important of which is granting teachers their full rights, adopting the new organizational structure, and setting the date for implementing the fingerprint system at the beginning of the school year after explaining the mechanism for its implementation and clarifying whether it takes into consideration the flexible working hours or not.

Also, another protesting teacher Talal Al-Enezi affirmed that the goal of the teachers’ sit-in is not to eliminate the fingerprint system, but rather to demand that the government, the Minister of Education, and leaders of the Ministry of Education study any decision before issuing it. He highlighted that teachers carry out roles in the school that are not part of their work duties. In addition, the Rapporteur of the Parliament’s Educational Committee Fahad Al-Masoud announced that the committee will invite the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr. Adel Al-Adwani to attend a meeting on Thursday to discuss the mechanism for implementing the fingerprint system in schools. In a press statement, Al-Masoud explained that the Ministry of Education is required to develop a plan to dispel the fear among teachers about the fingerprint attendance system, and develop an organizational structure for schools that includes the distribution of tasks and responsibilities for each teacher. The fingerprint system is linked to several regulatory bodies, including the Civil Service Commission and the State Audit Bureau.

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