When will Kuwaitization happen, Your Excellency the Minister? Not only for supervisory positions, but also for the teaching profession.

Thirteen years... and the discourse on the Kuwaitization of education remains unchanged, while ministers change and leadership rotates, leaving the same question hanging in the air: When will the promise become a plan, and the plan become reality? For over thirteen years, the file of Kuwaitizing the teaching profession has been present in the statements of Ministry of Education officials, becoming one of the topics discussed more frequently than its results are seen on the ground. In 2012, the Ministry announced a plan to Kuwaitize the teaching profession within ten years, in collaboration with Kuwait University and the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, with the aim of preparing national cadres and reducing reliance on expatriate teachers. In 2022, former Minister of Education Dr. Hamad Al-Adwani confirmed that the Ministry was working along two clear paths: the first was Kuwaitizing supervisory positions, and the second was Kuwaitizing the teaching profession, with plans varying by specialty depending on the availability of national personnel. Today, we read about a clear plan to Kuwaitize supervisory positions, targeting full Kuwaitization—a direction worthy of all praise, as it strengthens the presence of national competencies in educational leadership roles. But the question that awaits an answer from thousands of citizens remains: Where is the plan to Kuwaitize the teaching profession? The teacher is the foundation of the educational process and the true investment in the nation’s future. Therefore, talk of Kuwaitizing education should not be limited to supervisory positions but must start in the classroom, where generations are built and minds are shaped.

Your Excellency the Minister... hardly a year passes without us reading about the termination of services for a number of non-Kuwaiti teachers, while at the same time we read about the continuation of contracts to fill needs from within Kuwait and abroad. This raises a legitimate question: Who is the national alternative? And when will we reach a stage where seeking teachers from outside the borders is no longer the first option? Official statistics indicate that the number of teaching staff in the Ministry of Education exceeds 104,000 teachers and educators, while the number of non-Kuwaitis is approximately 25,000 teachers and educators. This means that the project of Kuwaitizing the teaching profession is not about abstract numbers, but about providing nearly 25,000 job opportunities for Kuwaiti men and women in the medium and long term. These are not just a few jobs... but an entire professional city that could absorb thousands of Kuwaiti graduates if a clear national plan were established to prepare, qualify, and gradually replace them.

However, on the other hand, there is an important point often missing from the discussion. The overall percentage can be misleading. The high overall Kuwaitization rate of the teaching staff may give the impression that the file is progressing excellently, while the reality is quite different. This is because some specialties have already reached very high Kuwaitization rates, even achieving near self-sufficiency, such as kindergarten and physical education, while other specialties still represent the real challenge. Mathematics, physics, chemistry, and some scientific specialties still rely heavily on non-Kuwaiti teachers, and data indicates that the percentage of Kuwaitis in some of these specialties does not even reach 15%. Here lies the problem. Kuwaitizing education is not measured by the overall percentage... but by the number of classrooms where a Kuwaiti teacher stands. True success is not when we say the Kuwaitization rate has increased, but when we can fill the shortage in the specialties that our schools actually need.

The vision a few years ago relied on coordination between the Ministry of Education, Kuwait University, and the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training to prepare teachers according to the Ministry’s needs. Today, however, after the significant expansion of higher education institutions, that is no longer sufficient. The project of Kuwaitizing education must be a national project involving the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education, Kuwait University, Abdullah Al-Salem University, the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, private universities, and external scholarship programs, all working according to a unified national map that determines the Ministry’s needs for each specialty, not just for the coming year, but for the next five to ten years. It is inconceivable that universities continue to graduate large numbers in saturated specialties, while schools suffer from chronic shortages in others, only to resort to contracting from abroad to fill these gaps.

It is regrettable that the lack of transparency makes it difficult, even for a writer or researcher, to accurately assess the reality of Kuwaitization. Where is the annual report that shows: ? The number of Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti teachers in each specialty? ? The Kuwaitization rate in each subject? ? The volume of needs during the next five and ten years? ? When will we reach self-sufficiency in each specialty? These are not media demands, but essential tools for planning, and citizens have the right to access them, especially since education represents one of the largest sectors of the state.

The state, under the directives of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait, may God protect him, and the follow-up of His Highness the Prime Minister, is moving to strengthen the presence of national competencies in various state institutions. We have seen several government entities announce clear timelines for Kuwaitization, with some even reaching full Kuwaitization rates. From this, citizens have the right to ask: If the Ministry of Education could establish a clear plan to Kuwaitize supervisory positions at 100%, why not announce a similar plan to Kuwaitize the teaching profession? We are not against relying on expatriate expertise when necessary; experience is valued, and the students’ interest comes first. But reliance on expatriate teachers should be a transitional phase with a beginning and an end, not a permanent reality extending for decades.

Your Excellency the Minister... if a graduate of the College of Education, or a graduate of Kuwait University or Abdullah Al-Salem University, or a graduate of a private university, or a state-funded scholarship student were to ask you today: “When will I be the true alternative to the expatriate teacher?” Do we have a clear answer? Is there a published roadmap upon which he can build his future? Kuwaiti youth lack no desire to serve their country, but they need a clear vision and planning that links university outputs with school needs, so that the graduate does not become a job seeker while the Ministry continues to look for teachers from abroad.

Achieving full Kuwaitization of the teaching profession will not be realized by an administrative decision, but it is also not an unattainable dream. If the state succeeds in replacing two to three thousand Kuwaiti teachers annually in the required specialties, while redirecting university admissions and external scholarships according to actual needs, Kuwait will be able to achieve self-sufficiency in the most important profession for building human capital within a few years. Therefore, I place before Your Excellency four practical initiatives:

? Announce a national plan to Kuwaitize the teaching profession by 2035, specialty by specialty, with announced annual performance targets.

? Issue an annual transparency report detailing the number of Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti teachers in each specialty, along with sufficiency, shortage, and future needs percentages.

? Establish a permanent National Council for Educational Planning comprising the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education, Kuwait University, Abdullah Al-Salem University, the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, private universities, and scholarship-supervising bodies, to unify planning for teacher preparation outputs.

? Redirect university admissions and academic scholarships toward specialties that schools actually need, rather than continuing the gap between educational outputs and field requirements.

Your Excellency the Minister, the success of Kuwaitizing supervisory positions is worthy of praise, but the greater success will come when the Kuwaiti teacher becomes the first choice, not the last resort. We are not looking for a new decree, nor a promise repeated with every minister. We are looking for a clear national project that begins with preparing the Kuwaiti teacher and ends with Kuwait achieving self-sufficiency in the most important profession for building human capital. True Kuwaitization is not measured by the number of contracts canceled, but by the number of Kuwaiti teachers who were prepared, qualified, and given the opportunity to stand before our children in classrooms.