KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education has addressed the Ministry of Interior to cancel the residence permits of about 2,400 expatriate teachers of various specializations, including 1,900 whose services were terminated after they were included in the so-called replacement plan in addition to 500 who had submitted their resignation, informed sources confirmed to Al-Qabas daily. The sources added the Human Resources Department of the Ministry of Education is keen to complete the transactions of non-Kuwaiti teachers whose services ended at the end of the current academic year 2022-2023, to complete the procedures for settling their dues and canceling their work permits as soon as possible, so that they do not incur any fines or fees.

The sources pointed out that the Ministry of Interior will give employees whose services have ended 3 months grace period in order to settle their dues and their status in general. The sources indicated that Education Ministry is keen not to delay the completion of residence cancellation procedures to enable the teachers to travel to their countries at the specified time and to avoid delays and loss of ticket reservations.

On the other hand, the Education Ministry has asked the Ministry of Health to expedite the medical examination procedures for newly hired educational staff working in the ministry of both the Palestinian and Jordanian teachers, after a delay of up to 30 days. Informed sources confirmed that the Expatriate Labor Examination Department, the Tuberculosis Control Unit and Ports Health authorities in the Ministry of Health were late in sending the results of the examination to the Ministry of Interior, which resulted in the disruption of the distribution of teachers to schools.

The Education Ministry stressed the need for the procedures to be completed quickly. The sources pointed to the continuation of the Education Ministry in its plan for the replacement policy, which it approved about 3 months ago under the directives of Minister Dr Hamad Al-Adwani, pointing out that what is being raised on the ground about freezing decisions or postponing the termination of the services of those covered by replacement for a year is incorrect.