UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR STUDENTS WHO LOST FILES IN MINISTRY FIRE
Nawara Fattahova
Kuwait Times
October 01, 2009
KUWAIT: A fire recently struck the storage room of the Ministry
of Education’s building in Salmiya which houses school files and
certificates belonging to students who attend private schools in
Kuwait. The fire caused the loss of many files and certificates
belonging to students from several private Arabic and foreign
schools. The lost files were not backed up on any computer system
and there is no other record of them, officials said.
Fortunately, not all files in the store room were lost. Some were
saved, but sources familiar with the situation said the files have
not been organized yet. According to an employee from the department,
the files affected include those from 1996 to the present. Older
files and certificates are held elsewhere by the Ministry of Education.
Some students who planned to transfer to different schools or who
needed their paperwork for other tasks are facing many problems after
this event occurred. Some were confused about what to do, and the
staff from the department was unable to help them and simply advised
them to request other copies of their certificates from the schools
they studied at.
When this reporter visited the Private Education Department, it was
hard to find an answer about the exact number of files that were lost.
The visit unveiled other problems, including a shortage that the
employees are facing. "There is a need for the organization of this
work. The mess is everywhere. We don’t work in decent offices and
five of us are working on two tables. There are no telephones or
computers. We have to clean, paint and equip the room on our own
expenses," said Um Ali, one of the employees at Students Affairs in
the Private Education Department told the Kuwait Times yesterday.
The employees at this department suffer from other shortages. "We don’t
have a parking lot and we are parking our vehicles on the street. Many
times, or cars g hit by other drivers. Also, there is no security
guards to protect us from the mad visitors and patrons. Many times,
we face unpleasant situations when we are attacked verbally and once
even physically. Our director didn’t do anything to help us," said
her colleague, Istiqlal.
While this reporter was interviewing the employees, their supervisor
came in and informed them that the director agreed that they could move
to the other, larger room on one condition, which is to work on Friday
and Saturday. The staff were disappointed at hearing this news and told
their supervisor that their husbands would not agree to the conditions.
You see, many times we are forced to come to work on the weekends,
and only sometimes we are compensated. It is not fair, but what can
we do. We complained many times, but nobody listens," added Um Ali.
Some parents who come demanding the burnt files were told that the
ministry will be looking to find a solution soon. Those who lost
their files in the fire and didn’t find them at their schools will
have an uncertain resolution to their problems.
In Kuwait, there are about 650 public schools, including boys and
girls schools for all stages. Also included are 80 foreign schools
including English, French, American, Indian, Filipino, Iranian,
Pakistani, Armenian and other schools. There are 72 private Arabic
schools in addition to eight schools for the disabled. These schools
are spread across the country’s six governorates.
The Private Education Department is responsible for the affairs of all
these schools, which also includes keeping copies of their student’s
files. Also many different rules apply on them that are different
from the public schools.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
