Teacher Transfers: Implementation and Rejection

- More than 6,500 teachers have filed appeals; the Ministry of Education urges waiting for results

- Al-Hamad: We inherited the imbalance from previous administrations; the transfer came after identifying areas of shortage and surplus

For the second consecutive day, the repercussions of the Ministry of Education’s decision to mandate the transfer of 8,703 teachers continued, with protesters regrouping outside the ministry building. By the end of the Thursday workday, approximately 6,500 teachers had submitted electronic appeal requests, representing nearly 75 percent of those affected by the decision.

While the Ministry of Education emphasized its commitment to enhancing communication with the educational field and listening to feedback, teachers renewed their demands to cancel and reconsider the transfer decisions. Meanwhile, educational sources stressed that there would be no retreat from the decision, insisting that all affected personnel must report to their new assignments within three working days and await the outcomes of their appeals.

Dozens of teachers gathered at the ministry building, with some congregating outside the offices of the Educational Affairs Sector. Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs, Hamad Al-Hamad, confirmed that appeals would be reviewed carefully and transparently, and that cases requiring reconsideration would be examined in accordance with established regulations and procedures. The deadline for submitting appeals closes today, Friday, paving the way for the review process to begin.

In a detailed explanation of the reasons and mechanism behind the transfers, Al-Hamad stated in an interview with Kuwait TV that the 11.2-kilometer transfer distance refers to the distance between a teacher’s current school and their new assigned school, not between their residence and the school. He noted that this distance could rise to approximately 20 kilometers for supervisory staff when necessary to achieve balance among schools.

He revealed that Minister of Education Eng. Jalal Al-Tabtabaee formed a committee chaired by him to determine the actual number of teachers, following significant discrepancies between teacher registry figures and payroll management records, which in some cases amounted to a difference of around 15,000 teachers. He described this as an imbalance in the distribution mechanism inherited by the ministry from previous administrations.

Al-Hamad clarified that the actual number of teachers is approximately 91,000, teaching 423,000 students across 948 schools. The transfer movement was implemented after identifying areas of shortage and surplus to address the major imbalance in the distribution mechanism and its resulting distortion in teacher allocations.

Al-Hamad cited examples of the identified imbalances, including seven female teachers instructing a single class in one kindergarten, 12 technical supervisors in a single kindergarten, and 12 decoration teachers at a religious institute despite the absence of a decoration specialization. He also pointed out the presence of five assistant principals in one school, even though the organizational structure permits no more than three. He denied rumors circulating on social media regarding the transfer of a teacher to “Raudhat Al-Zahra” (Flower Kindergarten).