Minister and the MP
mariam al-aqeel, minister of state for economic affairs said there is big great shortage of national cadres, especially in vocational jobs and teaching profession.
there is only one kuwaiti teacher in the fields of science, physics, chemistry and mathematics. not to mention the lack of doctors, engineers, air conditioning technicians and in every other field without exception.
the rest of the services are not in the minds and interests of kuwaitis such as nursing which is seen by many as a petty job, and the medical massage is even worse, add to this the employment in hotels and thousands of other jobs that kuwait regards as ‘inferior’ and unsuitable.
this bad impression did not come from a vacuum. it has preceded by the failure of a public education that has been going on for 70 years in directing the outputs towards the real needs.
if a disaster happens tomorrow and we are left alone, we will fail not only in managing the state, but every activity will also collapse. no one knows where the grain silos are located or how to manage mills and bakeries, or the maintenance of water desalination plants, or the continued operation of oil refineries, or the management of hospitals.
this is going on after more than a century after the start of regular education in kuwait, and more than seven decades of vocational education and training. the state took care of industrial education and turned it into an independent body in 1962, and spent $40 billion on it. we did not see carpenters, plumbers, welders, surveyors, road supervisors, machinery operators or technicians in one water desalination plant and the output of the applied education is female secretaries.
thus, it was not strange to see news on all social media means which talked about a kuwaiti butcher managing his own shop in hawally, then comes mp safa’a al-hashem demanding the amendment of the demographic structure, and shouts at the top of her voice to impose taxes on foreign workers, and fees on his movements and financial remittances so as to tire them and leave kuwait to us and, whether being unaware, or aware of that imposing taxes on them is absurd, and such tax fees will ultimately be paid by the employer.
before asking to amend the demographics, which is a long-awaited demand, al-hashem as a legislator has to ask the government about the miserable educational output, the reason why the young kuwaiti man is reluctant to work in some professions, and the government’s stand – knowingly or unknowingly – is against the involvement of kuwaitis in manual jobs or handicraft work and the continued inferior view of those who work with their hands, and corrupting the administrative citizen with more financial rewards and benefits in kind.
on this occasion, it is important to note the agreement between the new agents of mercedes and the kuwait investment authority to open the kuwait academy of automotive technology to train young kuwaitis on this useful and necessary profession and we hope al mulla is luckier than others.
