Engineering Education in the Hands of Sayyid Jalal
Formal education in Kuwait has surpassed a century since the establishment of Al-Mubarakiya School, the first official school in the country, founded through joint popular and official efforts.
Since the early stages of the educational renaissance, education in Kuwait has been driven by necessity. Kuwait is a state built on trade, which does not rely on the domestic market but rather on import and export. Caravans carried goods to Aleppo and Najd, while Kuwaiti ships transported Iraqi dates to India, among other destinations, returning with various types of goods such as tea, sugar, rice, and fabrics. All of this required individuals to record incoming and outgoing accounts, leading to the spread of the profession of bookkeeping among the educated. During this period, trade in Kuwait was thriving.
After the success of the Al-Mubarakiya School experiment, the government expanded by establishing schools for boys and girls, followed by intermediate and secondary stages. This expansion necessitated the recruitment of teachers from Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, and the Levant, in addition to Kuwaiti teachers.
Despite the expansion of education, which eventually covered Kuwait City and distant villages, the curricula did not match those of advanced countries. They remained static and classical (religion, Arabic, mathematics, geography, and history). Textbooks distributed to students each academic year were considered new, but only in terms of their printing and elegant appearance; the content remained unchanged from previous years.
We were required to memorize poems by poets from the Pre-Islamic era, the early Islamic period, and the Abbasid and Umayyad eras. I do not know if this curriculum, particularly in poetry and literature, is still in place or if it has changed with the evolution of the times.
At one point, the Ministry of Education revolutionized education and curricula by implementing the credit system, a model adopted from some European schools. This system disadvantaged students studying under the credit system, whereas students following the old annual system often struggled and had to repeat the year.
In classical education, excellence was not as important as passing, even if barely. In final exams, excellence was largely confined to the children of expatriates (Palestinians, Egyptians, Syrians), while it was rare for a Kuwaiti student to emerge as top scorer and achieve the highest marks.
Is it that Kuwaitis do not desire education? Not at all. However, the children of expatriates are mostly sons of teachers working in government or private schools, and these parents are well-versed in the intricacies and coverage of final year exams.
However, this year witnessed a miracle: Kuwaiti students achieved top scores, securing the highest marks and sitting in the front rows. If there is credit to be given, it belongs to the Minister of Education, who emphasized the examination committees. Under his tenure, Kuwaiti students have been achieving perfect scores (100/100).
In my view, we should remain optimistic when reading about the efforts made by educational leaders. The Prime Minister, Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad, met with the director of cooperation to discuss areas of education and exchange expertise to develop the system, and an agreement was signed with UNESCO aimed at elevating the quality of education and enhancing the efficiency of the educational process.
From this, it is imperative to double the efforts of educators, led by the Minister, and to multiply these efforts not by extending school hours or complicating the academic material, but by simplifying curricula and reducing the volume of textbooks, which undoubtedly burden students, especially in the early stages.
The goal is to see an education system parallel to that of advanced countries.
A nation’s progress is tied to the advancement of its education system; as education rises, so do the nation and its society. The state has not stinted in its support for education, and the hope now rests with those on the ground.
— Kuwaiti journalist
