Calls were launched via Twitter by its users to prevent government employees from using their smartphones during official working hours, on the grounds that some of them are more preoccupied with their phones than in performing their duties, reports Al-Nahar daily. However, legal sources affirmed that there is no law obligating the ministry or entity to prevent its employees from using their personal phones in the workplace. Reactions rejecting this call were based on their opinion that such a measure is an attack on personal freedom.

However, there is no law or decision that allows this measure to be taken. As for the advocates, they called for setting controls so that the use of mobile phones is limited only during the break time or the absence of clients, given that mobile phones have become an integral part of daily life. They also called to allow the use of mobile phones only for necessary matters, and prevent the use of gaming sites or applications during working hours

The cost of a flight ticket to return to Kuwait has become five times the price of a flight ticket from Kuwait to the same destination, reports Al-Anba daily. Active destinations recorded departure ticket prices costing less than KD 20 but return tickets costing between KD 140 and KD 190 during the current days. According to traders in the travel and tourism sector, the rise in prices for returning to Kuwait is natural with the approaching end of the summer vacation when return tickets to Kuwait become the most in demand. Reservations are witnessing a continuous increase, which increased the rate of demand, and the prices along with it.

Opportunity
Citizens and residents who are not currently connected to any work or study dates have an opportunity to plan and start a vacation at a lower cost as long as they leave during the current period, and return after the schools open. A member of the Union of Travel and Tourism Offices Abdul Rahman Al- Kharafi said the current period is witnessing an increased demand for reservations for incoming flights to Kuwait compared to departing flights, which contributed to the rise in ticket prices. He revealed that the prices of tickets for flights departing from Kuwait are witnessing a significant decline, especially for some destinations that have a weak turnout near the end of the summer vacation, including Alexandria and Assiut in Egypt, which reached low prices of nearly KD 20 to only depart, while it costs KD 27 to travel to Cairo. Al-Kharafi said he expects the prices of flight tickets to return to Kuwait to decrease after mid-September, with the beginning of the new school year, as the majority of traveling citizens and residents will have returned to the country.

This will reduce the demand for return tickets, which will reduce their prices severely and will provide the opportunity for many to travel back and forth at competitive prices. Meanwhile, Director General of Bash Aviation Company for Travel and Tourism Muhammad Bashir said the increase in the prices of return tickets to Kuwait comes within a normal framework, especially since the current period until the start of schools constitutes the season for travelers returning from annual summer holidays, which raises the demand for tickets. He said, “Some Egyptian destinations recorded ticket prices below KD 20 from Kuwait, prices that we have not seen over the past few years, not to mention other touristic destinations for which Kuwaiti citizens are in high demand, whose ticket prices are KD 50 and less, such as Istanbul, Beirut and Baku, while the price for traveling to London dropped to KD 147”. Furthermore, Director of Sales Department at Al-KharafiTravels Naji Khader explained that the increasing demand for return tickets to Kuwait by citizens comes mainly from European destinations, Turkey and Thailand.

The ticket prices from London to Kuwait are reaching the level of KD 204, from Istanbul to Kuwait about KD 226, and KD 110 from Baku. Among the destinations from which residents come to Kuwait such as Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and India, there is an increased demand, with the prices of return tickets from Jordan to Kuwait between KD 150 and KD 220. The prices of return tickets from Cairo and Alexandria range between KD 140 and more than KD 160, and from Beirut about KD 176. Khader said he expects the prices of return tickets to Kuwait to witness a drop of up to 70 percent in the middle of next month. In addition, Director of the “Red Sea” Company for Travel and Tourism Sherif Bazaza said the high prices of return tickets to Kuwait are currently a normal thing.

Tourism
The travel and tourism market usually witnesses this with the end of the summer season due to the great demand for return tickets, as they coincide with the return of students, teachers, residents and travelers from abroad simultaneously before the start of the next academic year. This increases the level of demand for tickets, more than the number of seats offered, and thus is reflected in the ticket prices, which increases automatically. Bazaza added that ticket prices do not differ whether booked in Kuwait or abroad.

Former Indian Embassy official Shri Jaladhi Mukharji passed away in India on Tuesday August 16th.

He was the Second Secretary at Ministry of External Affairs, Delhi and was the Head of Chancery and Chief Public Information Officer at Indian Embassy in Kuwait.

He superannuated from his position on the year 2020 and was living in India.

The security teams conducted a surprise campaign in Salmiya and an extensive campaign in Jleeb for the fifth consecutive day.

According to the Security Media Department of the Interior Ministry, this is under the directives of Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Ahmad, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and Acting Interior Minister, with follow-up by Lieutenant-General Anwar Al-Barjas, the Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry.

Kuwaitis and expats have been warned against spreading rumors and distorted news by the Cybercrime Department, MOI advises them to take information only from official sources in order to avoid being held legally accountable for the accuracy of information published in reliable media.

The Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) and Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) are public institutions under the government. The primary objective of these two institutions is to provide accurate statistical data being used as basis for drafting public policies, the most basic of which is the population census. The indisputable hypothesis is that the data of both institutions must be identical.

In case of discrepancies in their data they must coordinate to unify their data before releasing the information or explaining reasons behind the discrepancy, Al-Rai daily reports. In the first week of August 2022 the CSB released its population statistics as at the end December 2021. The report stated that the total population of Kuwait reached 4,216,900 — a decline of 119,112 compared to 4,336,012 in 2020. This is attributed to the decrease in expatriate population by about 148,000 and an increase of about 29,000 in the number of Kuwaitis.

Release
Meanwhile, PACI has yet to release its demographic statistics as at the end of 2021. Its statistics by the end of June 2021 showed that Kuwait has a population of 4,627,674 — a difference of 411,000 compared to the CSB statistics at the end of 2021, which is a significant difference. Fundamental differences extend to the age groups, as CSB estimates those who are aged 60 years and above at 361,493 while PACI estimated 122,004 at the end of June 2021. For the age group 25 to 29 years old, the estimate of CSB is 206,048 while PACI’s estimate is 512,087 — a difference of 306,000. Looking into the population statistics of both institutions makes one feel that these are the statistics of two different countries. It is difficult to lay down any policy with such a significant difference.

If the primary statistics are wrong, it is possible that the more complex statistics on which it is built, such as economic growth, infl ation, employment and unemployment are also wrong. It is necessary to avoid discrepancies and ensure the accuracy of figures. The two institutions should meet to review the discrepancies and their justifications before the statistics are released, or this task should be assigned to one institution only. Otherwise, all studies and policies adopted by the State will be inaccurate. Accurate and updated statistics are considered the fuel of development.

Public Education

People are hoping that Kuwait will start a new era in improving the quality of public education and restore its pioneering role. This role is impossible without the commitment to determine priorities, combat corruption and ensure fair parliamentary elections. One of the priorities should be reforming the oil sector, considering most of its highly qualified administrators have been replaced with the unqualified or those with poor qualifications.

This disaster led to the distribution of positions among corrupt influential people whose loyalty is bought and whose number has multiplied. Another priority is development of the educational sector. The level of public education declined by about 4.6 years, according to the World Bank and the latest programs of the previous governments. This means that the educational level of a high school graduate here is below that of an eighth grade completer elsewhere.

An official report titled, “For Kuwait’s Sake Let’s Teach Our Children Integrity”, estimated the average cost for a student in government schools – kindergarten to secondary – at KD 3,800 annually. According to a survey conducted by Al-Shall, the cost of private school education is more than the average cost in American schools — KD 3,900. The average cost for students in bilingual schools is about KD 2,900; KD 2,600 in British schools, KD 500 in Indian schools and KD 427 in Arabic schools, all of which have better educational outputs than government schools. This means that the problem is not the scarcity of money, but wastage and misappropriation, in addition to numerous shortcomings such as the failure to link the teachers with rare specialization and research, teacher’s promotion in continuing education, cheating and inflation of the administrative system for employment purposes. All of these have disrupted the provision of other educational needs such as laboratories, tools and training courses.

Traditional

While education around the world is witnessing a curriculum revolution because most traditional jobs are no longer needed in the future, the public education curricula in the country has been unchanged. Since the outputs of public education are the inputs of higher education, the lag in its outputs makes raising the level of higher education almost impossible.

Therefore, the classification of higher education institutions lags behind that of neighboring countries where the Kuwaiti public education curricula were taught in the past. Kuwait needs a new administration fully aware of the sabotage in public education, and believes that improving the country’s level will be in vain without improving its human capital which, in turn, will not be achieved without a real educational revolution that includes curricula and values. No one is seeking for new invention as clear examples abound, what matters is determination.

The World Health Organization, which is looking to rename monkeypox, called Tuesday for help from the public in coming up with a less stigmatizing designation for the fast-spreading disease. The UN health agency has for weeks voiced concern about the name of the disease that emerged onto the global stage in May. Experts warn the name can be stigmatizing to the primates it was named after, but who play little role in its spread, and to the African continent that the animals are often associated with.

Recently in Brazil, for instance, there have been reported cases of people attacking monkeys over disease fears. “Human monkeypox was given its name before current best practices in naming diseases,” WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told reporters in Geneva. “We want really to find a name that is not stigmatizing,” she added, saying the consultation is now open to everyone through a dedicated website: https://icd.who.int/dev11 .

Monkeypox received its name because the virus was originally identified in monkeys kept for research in Denmark in 1958, but the disease is found in a number of animals, and most frequently in rodents. The disease was first discovered in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the spread among humans since then mainly limited to certain West and Central African countries where it is endemic. But in May, cases of the disease, which causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions, began spreading rapidly around the world, mainly among men who have sex with men. Worldwide, over 31,000 cases have been confirmed since the start of the year, and 12 people have died, according to the WHO, which has designated the outbreak a global health emergency.

While the virus can jump from animals to humans, WHO experts insist the recent global spread is due to close-contact transmission between humans. The UN health agency announced last week that a group of experts it had convened had already agreed on new names for monkeypox virus variants, or clades. Until now, the two main variants have been named after the geographic regions where they were known to circulate, the Congo Basin and West Africa. The experts agreed to rename them using Roman numerals instead, calling them Clade I and Clade II. A subvariant of Clade II, now known as Clade IIb, is seen as the main culprit behind the ongoing global outbreak.—AFP

In the period from 21 to 27 August, Kuwait University will accept applications from foreign residents, GCC students, and high school graduates who wish to study at the university at their own expense.

During a press conference, Dr. Muhammad Zainal, Acting Secretary-General of Kuwait University, announced that students who meet the admission requirements would be able to submit their applications electronically, including graduates of the Kuwaiti unified system, the religious institute, American High School, and English high school graduates.

With the Entertainment City project, there is hope for the future, but will it be able to bring enjoyment and fun to thirsty children and their families? Al-Rai daily reports Kuwaiti families are waiting for the sun to rise again on the entertainment city as it once was, a place of celebration for all occasions and holidays.

In its current form on 2.570 million square meters, the extended entertainment city (planned) on the coastal area is one of the huge projects that were within the scope of the Tourism Projects Company. As a result, the Minister of Finance is now responsible for implementing the project in a timely manner, in coordination with a number of government agencies, as the project is of great economic and social importance, as it is a huge recreational outlet serving the citizens of all Gulf countries on holidays. KCCI Board member Osama Al-Nisf told the daily that "communities need entertainment projects, especially if they are successful and integrated.

Kuwait's Vision 2035 will be achieved through the new projects." Dr. Khaled Al-Rasheed, a faculty member at Kuwait University's College of Engineering, said recreational places make up the backbone of any country's tourism industry, since they are the main element attracting tourists, the center of the economy, and the reason citizens and residents stay in the country during the summer.

In response to the Council of Ministers' decision to accelerate the construction of a new entertainment city, Amthal Al-Huwaila, professor of psychology at Kuwait University, thanked them for taking the time to see the needs of the citizens. In order to remove the stress of life, study and work in any society, recreational activities are essential.

According to Al- Huwailah, the project should be completed within a year, so Kuwait can begin entertaining families from all neighboring countries again. Some countries have built huge tunnels and bridges in record time, and she hopes to benefit from their experiences. It was stated by the psychological consultant, Dr. Khaled Al-Mohannadi, that the state is composed of three areas - political, economic, and social, the last of which includes everything that makes a person feel safe, comfortable, and well-being, when he sees the normality and health of society, emphasizing that mental health is an important aspect of social security, as it directly impacts social security, as well as the presence of entertainment venues, which are both preventative and curative.

The Ministry Of Interior has issued verbal instructions to the Residency Affair Department in all six governorates to stop issuing family and visit visas to expats until further notice.

Only doctors and Europeans who apply for online visa will be excluded from this decision. Those who have been already issued family visas don’t come under these new instructions. New procedures and conditions are being implemented which will be approved after the study is done.

The head of the Kuwaiti Fishermen Union, Dhaher Al-Suwayan, announced Monday, August 15, fishing for Kingfish will be suspended until October 15. He called on all fishermen to adhere to the fishing seasons in order to preserve the fish wealth and fish stocks of the country. Al-Suwayan said in a statement that the fishing sector is one of the most important sectors of food security in the country and deserves to be reviewed by officials to develop it and increase the support provided to it. He pointed out that the support for fishermen has remained the same since the beginning of the nineties and did not change like other subsidies for food security sectors.

He pointed to the need to allow fishermen to fish for mead inside Kuwait Bay with the controls set by the Environment Public Authority and the supervision of the fisheries sector in the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fisheries Resources, stressing that the mead fish are found only in shallow waters and leaving them without fishing makes them migrate to neighboring countries.

He said he hopes the Public Authority for Agriculture will allow fishing mead inside the bay after the approval of the Environment Public Authority under the supervision and control of its inspectors, especially as it is one of the favorite foods of citizens and its presence in abundance will contribute to reducing prices. He explained that the Environment Public Authority has opened fishing inside Kuwait Bay for fishing enthusiasts, with a prior reservation on the authority’s website, hoping that the fishermen will have a share in this, declaring their willingness to pay any required fees, in order to provide the supply in the markets in the quantities required for consumers.

More than six years after recalling its top envoy to Tehran in solidarity with Saudi Arabia after it severed ties with Tehran in 2016, Kuwait has appointed an ambassador to Iran, both countries said on Sunday.

Iran's foreign ministry said on Saturday that Ambassador Bader Abdullah Al Munaikh handed over his credentials to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in Tehran. The Kuwaiti foreign ministry confirmed Munaikh's appointment.

Kuwait already has an Iranian ambassador.

Saudi Arabia is working to improve ties with Iran, with which it has been locked in a rivalry that has spanned conflicts in the region.

Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties with Tehran in January 2016 after Iranian protesters stormed its embassy in Tehran amidst a Saudi execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

As other Gulf Arab states rally around Riyadh, Kuwait recalls its envoy to Iran. Under a foreign policy that balances relations with its larger neighbors, Kuwait has maintained relatively good relations with Tehran.

Last year, Saudi Arabia initiated direct talks with Iran. According to the kingdom's foreign minister, progress has been made in five rounds of Iraq-mediated talks, but not enough.

On the occasion of Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation for the ninth time from the Red Fort's ramparts, claiming that India is the "mother of democracy" and that everyone is working toward empowering every Indian in every region of the country. India is the mother of democracy, Prime Minister Modi declared in his speech to the country on this historic day. India has demonstrated its valuable abilities and overcomes numerous obstacles during its 75-year journey. The prime minister cited the ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi, the country's founder. We are aiming to empower every Indian in every part of the country, whether they be Dalits, women, farmers, or Divyang... from the north, in accordance with Gandhi Ji's concept.

The Prime Minister asserted that despite difficulties encountered after Independence, Indian citizens' passion was unaffected by anything. "This earth has strength. India faced numerous obstacles but did not give up, did not submit, and continued to advance "stated PM Modi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated during a speech at the Red Fort that India must strive to become a developed nation and do rid of all signs of colonialism. In order to maintain unity in diversity, he continued, Indians must also maintain their cultural roots. According to PM Modi, citizens must fulfil their obligations.

The contributions of India's female liberation fighters were also mentioned by PM Modi. Every Indian feels a sense of pride when they reflect on the resilience of Indian women, including Rani Laxmibai, Jhalkari Bai, Chennamma, and Begun Hazrat Maha, according to PM Modi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was a momentous day for India as it pursues a new route with new resolve as he opened his speech at the Red Fort. Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the National Flag in front of his speech at the Red Fort as the locally made ATAGS artillery gun fired a 21-shot salute. Helicopters dropped flower petals on the crowd after that. PM Modi paid his respects at Rajghat earlier in the day.

In each entry/exit point at the fort, a multi-layered security cover and facial recognition system cameras have been installed. Additionally, trained catchers were used by security officers to verify that no monkeys were present on the property throughout the day. On the morning of August 15, the police recruited as many as 231 regular kite-flyers from the walled city region to guarantee a clear sky for approximately three hours.

An extensive security campaign was carried out by the Ministry of Interior resulting in arresting 20 men and woman for prostitution and violating public morals in Mahboula area. 51 people were arrested for various violations in the Jleeb Al Shuyoukh area.

The MOI confirmed that security campaigns are being conducted in various regions of the country, especially in the Jleeb and Mahboula regions, on a daily basis, to apprehend violators, wanted persons, beggars and residence violators of the law.

All citizens and residents have been called upon to cooperate with the security forces and not to harbor violators of residency law, as it is a crime punishable by law. Sponsors have to abide by the residency law or else sponsor files will be blocked whether it is a person or a company. Those found harboring residence violators or absconders will be banned from sponsoring labor/workers, will not be able to issue visas, renewal of visas will be blocked and they will be transferred to the investigation. Offender will not be allowed to enter Kuwait again.

The visa trade has returned to haunt the authorities once again after laying low during the Covid-19 pandemic, reports Al-Qabas daily. In this regard middlemen and those who have activated their trade through advertisements, at home and abroad, are offering work visas for sale, while the Ministry of Interior and the Public Authority for Manpower constantly warn against violating the laws, and despite the referral of hundreds of those involved in the visa trade to the judiciary and the issuance of verdicts against them, the daily monitored new advertisements mushrooming on the social media and WhatsApp offering visas for sale and the price ranges between 1,500 and 2,300 dinars depending on the nationality and job description. Moreover, responsible sources have warned of the recent resurgence of the random employment phenomenon — despite the shortage of craftsmen, which requires urgent intervention from the concerned state authorities so that the phenomenon does not escalate as it was before the pandemic.

Noticed
It is noticed on social networking sites the Syrians and the Sudanese sending requests for visas to work in Kuwait, whatever the value of the visa. Despite the difficulty of Syrians entering the country, Al-Qabas monitored offers on social media about the availability of visas, but at high prices, sometimes reaching 5,000 dinars. As for the most advertisements on social media platforms showing availability of visas or the transfer of residence, they are for Egyptians, via fake accounts inside Kuwait or on Egyptian WhatsApp numbers announcing the availability of visa services.

On the ground, informed sources considered that the 80-day window granted by the Ministry of Interior to the expatriates abroad is sufficient to organize and arrange their affairs and return to their workplaces. After more than two years, the Ministry of the Interior re-activated the law for the revocation of Article 18 work permits of expatriates if they stay outside Kuwait for more than 6 months.

The outbreak of the Corona virus had caused the suspension of this law, as many expatriates who renewed their residencies benefited from it as they were permitted to renew their work permits online. The Ministry of Interior had revealed in a statement the day before yesterday that the 6-month calculation period starts from May 1 and ends at the beginning of next November, that is, it gave those outside the country an opportunity of 80 days to return to the country. The sources confirmed that the decision will reflect positively on the labor market, which has recently been suffering from a shortage of some jobs and professions.

According to a recent study on the impacts of extreme heat on people's health and wellbeing in Kuwait, further temperature increases could have a negative influence on people's health, including a spike in the number of heat-related deaths. The study also suggested that by the end of this century, harsh climate conditions brought on by altered weather patterns as a result of global climate change may be responsible for 14 out of every 100 deaths in Kuwait.

Dr. Barak Al-Ahmad, an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the College of Public Health at Kuwait University, collaborated with foreign academics on the study, which was published in the journal "Environmental Research Letters." The study was supported by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, in association with the Yale Center for Health and Climate Change, the Berne Institute for Preventive Health Studies, and the Harvard Center for Climate, Health and Global Environment in the United States.

According to the environmental study, Kuwait has experienced a "unprecedented" rate of temperature rise since the 1990s. By 2059 and 2099, average temperatures are expected to rise by 1.8 to 2.6 degrees Celsius and 2.7 to 5.5 degrees Celsius, respectively. This means that more than four months of the year could see temperatures rise above 40 degrees Celsius.

The study also noted that exposure to high temperatures worsens the health of those with chronic diseases, which may directly or indirectly result in mortality. As a result, an increase of 5 to 11 percent in the death rate is anticipated owing to the increased heat.

In related news, information made public last week by Kuwait's Ministry of Power, Water, and Renewable Energy (MEW) showed that the electricity load index on August 9 was the highest ever recorded.

The electricity flow of 16,180 megawatts at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 9 surpassed both the 15,670 megawatts recorded last year and the previous maximum output of 15,800 megawatts on August 4 of this year. The increase in electricity use has been attributed to the current hot temperatures as more people turn on their air conditioners and leave them on lower temperatures for longer periods of time.

While Kuwait set a new record for high temperatures on Monday with temperatures reaching 53 degrees celsius in Al Jahra and 52.1 degrees in Al-Sulaibiya, the temperature on Tuesday was just 51 degrees Celsius. Throughout last week, high temperatures were being recorded at meteorological stations across the nation.

The weather is expected to be extremely hot for the remainder of the week, with strong northwesterly winds producing dust and diminishing horizontal visibility in some regions, according to meteorological department authorities.

According to Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled's instructions, the Ministry of Interior cordoned off the Jleeb area again on Saturday to arrest residents violating the residency law. Three hundred and ninety-four residents of Jleeb and Mahboula were arrested during the campaign on Friday.

Lieutenant-General Anwar Al-Barjas and Major General Jamal Al-Sayegh are leading the campaign in Jleeb on Saturday. To besiege the lawbreakers, the team closed the area's entrances and exits.

The Directorate- General of Civil Aviation has sent a circular to all airlines operating at Kuwait International Airport, that all companies operating at Kuwait International Airport must adhere to the guideline and not bring in passengers into Kuwait in violation of standing rules and regulations, reports Al- Qabas daily. Meaning to say those who come for the purpose of residence and hold one of the visas mentioned below, unless they get in touch with the Kuwaiti embassies or consulates in their respective countries to get the entry visa endorsed on their passports before travel. The DGCA clarified that it was noticed recently that some airlines did not comply with the instructions issued by the Immigration at the Ministry of Interior.

Approval
The DGCA said people will not be allowed to enter Kuwait unless an approval for the entry visa is obtained, and the passengers who violate the instructions will be returned to the country of departure at the expense of the airline. Categories of passengers who enter with visas approved by embassies are those who come to work in the government or public institutions, in the private sector, to practice a commercial or industrial activity, a profession or a craft, private domestic workers and the like, to join a family and to study.

Categories that are forbidden to enter and are returned to their country at the expense of the airline include if they do not carry a “passport/visa”, expiry date of the passport/visa/residency, if the visa is not certified by the embassy or consulate abroad, if the visa is not original, if the person has valid residence permit but exceeded six months of residence abroad, residents of the Gulf countries if the validity of the “passport/residency” is less than six months, or the professions are not permitted, according to Circular No. “46/2016” issued on Nov 11, 2016 and if they do not carry a police clearance certificate.

Behind the towering concrete walls, some schools open their doors to female students, and the educational journey continues in that way, in an atmosphere that brings sadness to female teachers and students, and contradicts the elements of the attractive educational environment that all educational institutions in the world call for, reports Al-Rai daily.

Towering the schools compound walls that do not exceed the number of fingers on one hand in the Jahra area, and some other educational areas were rejected — according to an educational source — by the former Minister of Education Nouria Al-Sabeeh in 2009 because of their unacceptable external appearance. The source told the daily “the height of the opaque concrete walls in these schools is very exaggerated, and contradicts the elements of an attractive educational environment, as these walls leave a harsh psychological impact on the student, and leave an unpleasant memory of the place where she spent most of her school days.”

The source said, “The educational facilities sector has the sufficient budget to replace these fences before the comprehensive return in the next academic year, especially since the number of schools with high walls is limited and does not represent any financial burden on the ministry,” stressing the need to replace them to be like other schools with an aesthetic view acceptable for the educational environment. At the same time, the source called for not paying attention to the unacceptable justifications made by some under the pretext of the conservative society and the privacy of the people, as there is no violation of privacy or an infringement on the preservation and evidence of the presence of dozens of other girls’ schools in the same area with decent compound walls that give comfort to the eye of the beholder.

For their part, engineers in the educational facilities sector spoke of the reasons for raising the height of the walls, stressing that the most important factor is to prevent the female students from escaping and to avoid incidents of theft that schools in the region are exposed to from time to time.

The engineers admitted that the external appearance of the schools is really ugly, and the justifications for their elevation of their presence between the houses are rejected, as all girls’ schools are located between the houses and no complaints were observed in this regard, noting that removing them and replacing them with other walls is easy, and it does not cost the facilities sector anything if it has the desire to do so.

The psychological counselor at the Ministry of Education, Huda Al- Haddad, described the height of the walls of some girls’ schools as one of the negative things that leave the student with nothing but bad memories that will have psychological repercussions in the long run. The authorities gave five justifications for the high rise compound walls saying 12 schools in Jahra were robbed and vandalized, the frequent escape of female students, complaints from parents about the privacy of female students, desire of its school administrations to protect the privacy of teachers and the location of the schools between the houses makes them vulnerable to onlookers.

According to local media, the interior ministry is ready to detain hundreds of thousands of people who have violated residency laws. The sources noted that the ministry of interior leadership has been given instructions to continue going after people who violate residency laws and step up inspection activities. In the meanwhile, the interior ministry will offer a new location to house people being held at the deportation prison in anticipation of their removal from the country.

According to the sources, the sources emphasized that the deportation procedures won't take long and that the ministry of interior will cooperate with relevant authorities to deport violators within three days of their arrest, with the exception of those whose cases necessitate their detention while their cases are being tried. The sources noted that in addition to covering the expense of deporting the expatriate, directives were also given to punish sponsors of individuals who are detained and bar them from sponsoring foreigners for a minimum of two years. The deported foreign nationals would always be prohibited from entering Kuwait.