KUWAIT: Kuwait’s ministers of education and higher education are working on a unified system to recognize foreign high school diplomas, a move that comes amid long-running concerns over fairness in the government’s scholarship program.

Every year, thousands of Kuwaiti high school graduates compete for all-expenses-paid government scholarships to study abroad. While students from public, private, and foreign schools can apply, critics have repeatedly accused the program of favouring graduates of foreign-language private schools — a claim officials have repeatedly denied.

On Wednesday, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr Nader Al-Jallal and Minister of Education Jalal Al-Tabtabai held a joint meeting to discuss a standardized process. Senior officials from both ministries and representatives from higher education institutions also attended.

In a joint statement, the ministers said they focused on “organizational and technical aspects of the recognition process in a way that limits grade inflation and ensures fairness and equal opportunity for graduates of the Ministry of Education who wish to join various higher education institutions inside and outside the country.”

They also emphasized “the importance of continuing coordination and working in a team spirit between the two sides to reach an integrated and fair system that reinforces confidence in the mechanisms for recognizing foreign secondary school certificates” and committed to implementing the agreed-upon measures “to ensure swift completion and achieve the desired goals.”

The ministries said the effort will help unify procedures to meet the requirements of the coming phase and serve the public interest of students and their families. — Agencies

KUWAIT: The National Cancer Awareness Campaign (CAN) has launched its annual breast cancer awareness initiative, “Pink Lifebuoy,” under the patronage of Minister of Social Affairs, Family and Children Dr Amthal Al-Huwaila, in cooperation with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. The campaign will run throughout October to spread health awareness and encourage early screening for breast cancer.

Speaking at the launch ceremony on Wednesday, CAN Chairman Dr Khaled Al-Saleh stressed that “awareness and knowledge are the first step toward prevention and recovery,” noting that breast cancer ranks first among cancers affecting women in Kuwait, and is also the most common cancer among women worldwide.

Dr Al-Saleh highlighted a recent global study showing cancer recovery rates in Kuwait have risen to 44 percent this year, crediting the progress to increased awareness and early detection efforts. Citing data from the Kuwait Cancer Control Center, he said 582 breast cancer cases were recorded among women in Kuwait, including 326 Kuwaiti and 256 non-Kuwaiti patients. Encouragingly, survival rates remain high, with figures showing that 94.5 percent of patients diagnosed in 2020 are still alive, and that most cases are detected at stage II.

“Knowledge and awareness are a lifeline for women,” Dr Al-Saleh said, emphasizing the importance of health education and monthly breast self-examinations. He urged women to recognize early warning signs and practice self-exams regularly as a simple but effective tool for early detection.

Dr Hessa Majid Al-Shaheen

Board member and initiative head Dr Hessa Majid Al-Shaheen underlined the campaign’s social impact, saying it has encouraged more women to undergo mammograms and self-examination training. She noted that more than 172,000 female students have already been trained in breast self-examination techniques.

For the past 14 years, CAN has organized a series of events during “Pink October,” including self-examination workshops in companies, universities, and the Public Authority for Applied Education, as well as awareness exhibitions in shopping malls, health centers, and hospitals. Awareness lectures are also delivered in schools, targeting both students and teachers to reinforce the importance of early detection.

Dr Al-Shaheen stressed that continued cooperation between health, social, educational, and media institutions is key to strengthening awareness efforts, supporting early screening, providing psychological care to patients, and motivating the community to adopt healthy lifestyles that help prevent cancer. — KUNA

 KUWAIT:  Minister of Justice Counselor Nasser Al-Sumait stated Tuesday that the US State Department’s has upgraded Kuwait’s ranking on its Trafficking in Persons 2025 report from Tier 2 Watch List to Tier 2.”

This upgrade reflects a remarkable improvement in Kuwait’s performance and tangible efforts it exerted to comply with relevant international standards,” Minister Al-Sumait, also chairman of the Permanent National Committee for Combating Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants, said in a statement to KUNA.

He pointed out that Kuwait has recently implemented a series of legislative reforms to address challenges in this dossier, most notably the issuance of a decree-law on foreigners’ residence late 2024 tightening penalties for trading in residence permits and criminalizing employers’ withholding of workers’ financial entitlements.

Kuwait had also introduced institutional reforms including the development of a victim protection system and implemented a national plan to combat human trafficking until 2028, he said. Al-Sumait said that this annual assessment report places the responsibility on the state to continue reform and develop national measures to enhance the protection of victims and address international observations in this area. — KUNA