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
