Minister of Education: Kuwait Committed to Building a Flexible, Advanced, and Sustainable Educational System Meeting Global Standards
Paris, October 10 (KUNA) -- Kuwait’s Minister of Education, Sayed Jalal Al-Tabtabaee, reaffirmed on Friday Kuwait’s commitment to continuing the construction and development of a more flexible, advanced, and sustainable education system in line with international standards. This statement was made during his speech at the “Government Leadership and Youth Innovation” session, held on the sidelines of the Transforming Education Summit at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris.
Minister Al-Tabtabaee stated that Kuwait’s educational experience during the previous academic year was exceptional, demonstrating the system’s capacity to ensure continuity of learning despite the emergency conditions faced by the country and the region. He noted that the year in question represented an exceptional phase in the history of education, as regional circumstances necessitated swift decisions to ensure student safety, maintain the continuity of the educational process, and transition the entire system to remote learning across all grade levels.
He clarified that during this period, more than half a million students continued their education remotely, with an attendance rate exceeding 85 percent. The ministry organized and refined mechanisms for teaching, monitoring, and assessment, while also ensuring the provision and delivery of textbooks to students to guarantee their safety, sustain the educational process, and ensure equal opportunities.
The minister highlighted that the ministry developed more than 27 electronic platforms and services, including the Electronic Transfer platform, utilized by over 106,000 teachers, and a smart chat service linked to the curriculum. Additionally, approximately 2,350 teachers and educational leaders were trained, a digital system for professional development was established, and a national project was implemented to qualify around 40,000 teachers in artificial intelligence applications.
He emphasized that Kuwait aims to translate Sustainable Development Goal 4—which calls for inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all, and to equip individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to improve their lives and contribute to the development of prosperous and sustainable societies by 2030—into reality. He underscored the importance of practical initiatives and measures that elevate the quality of education, noting that Kuwait views this summit as a milestone for transitioning from commitments to implementation, reviewing achievements, exchanging experiences, and setting priorities for the period leading up to 2030.
He pointed out that the world is facing rapid transformations and interconnected challenges that require a reevaluation of the capacity of education systems to adapt and endure. Kuwait has translated its commitment to achieving Goal 4 into executive measures focused on the quality of education, equity in access, and enhancing the resilience and responsiveness of the education system to changes.
Minister Al-Tabtabaee presented Kuwait’s national project to harness artificial intelligence in education, implemented in collaboration with Google, aimed at qualifying approximately 40,000 teachers over two academic years. He explained that the ministry continues to develop curricula in accordance with contemporary global standards and skills, prepare a unified education regulation, and strengthen governance and institutional oversight. These efforts involved the participation of more than 193,000 individuals from the educational field and parents in a national survey to develop the curriculum.
He stressed that investing in education is an investment in human capital and the future of generations, adding that Kuwait is committed to strengthening its cooperation with UNESCO and international partners to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
During the “Short Presentations” session of the summit, Al-Tabtabaee outlined aspects of Kuwait’s experience in educational transformation, reform, and innovation, highlighting efforts aimed at achieving tangible results in developing the education system. He shed light on the key lessons learned from the Kuwaiti experience that could enrich educational practices and facilitate knowledge exchange among countries.
The summit discussed the major achievements and challenges witnessed by the education sector since the Transforming Education Summit in 2022, alongside exploring ways to enhance the resilience of education systems, ensure sustainable financing, support comprehensive digital transformation, and elevate the teaching profession, thereby accelerating the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4, which focuses on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning for all. (End) M.B. / A.M.S.
