Poor university, rueful college
among the academic institutions kuwait university (ku) has been receiving the most criticism, suspicions, and defamation. the latest catastrophe was spending kd12 billion for the establishment of new buildings. this amount is a number of times higher than the original cost. the reason is the destructive administration of the government rather than the mismanagement of the university.
the government usually feels paralyzed, especially when it deals with educational, medical, and scientific issues. without a doubt, the backward administration of the government is in the interest of some parties.
recently, a committee known for its partiality was tasked to conduct a study on the merging or shutting down of the college of public health under the pretext that it is useless. if you look into the biography of the committee members, you will see that none of them specialized in public health or is a representative of the ministry of health. most of them are subordinates of the chairman of the committee.
the committee met with representatives of the college of public health who voiced their objection to its closure. they submitted a letter, stating their vision and the rationale behind their stand on the issue. it has been said that the committee ignored the context of the letter when it presented its report.
one of the reasons behind the decision to close the college of public health is that the cost per student is among the highest, after the college of medicine and college of dentistry. since the academic figures at the college of public health do not trust the committee, they double-checked the data only to find out that the cost per student was high due to the inclusion of expenses for the construction of the new building. acting university president fahd al-debeis confirmed this information later.
those who support the closure of the college of public health based their opinion on the dwindling number of students applying for admission to the college. nevertheless, this is due to the failure of the university to promote the college of public health and disprove rumors about it. furthermore, no wise student will apply to a college on the verge of shutting down.
the manpower shortage at the college of public health is due to the policy of the university to suspend the appointment of new staff since the covid-19 pandemic, in addition to the termination of a number of expatriate lecturers. this negatively affected the college, especially since it is new, small, and cannot operate without the appropriate number of staff.
the issue of shutting down the college of public health is still suspended. however, it has negatively affected the reputation of the university, especially with the incessant reshuffling, retirement referral, and appointment of new senior officials.
in a relevant development, the american university in the middle east (aum) recently announced that it will open the college of health sciences, which contrasts the tendency of ku. aum is aware of the importance of such a college. congratulations to aum and condolences to the students of the college of public health at ku.
