Kuwaiti teacher .. Financial privileges after a long trade union struggle

Nadia Al Dabbas - Kuwait

For the past 28 years, the Kuwaiti citizen, Ahmed Al-Shiha, has been working in the education profession.

Sheha was one of those who witnessed a transformation of teachers 'salaries in Kuwait with the passage of the Teachers' Staff Law in 2011 after long labor.

In the new cadre, the teacher and the whole faculty were given substantial financial privileges, making the newly-appointed and novice teacher receive a salary of up to KD 950 (equivalent to US $ 3,125) if he was a man, bringing the figure to KD 1050 (about US $ 3,500) if he was married.

Those with long experience are doubling their salaries, sometimes to more than 3,000 dinars per month, equivalent to about $ 10,000.

The Shiha - in his interview with the island Net - that the annual increases in the salary of the teacher did not increase before the approval of teachers cadres of ten dinars (about thirty dollars), if he was promoted to the head of the department, and then increased in the era of former Minister Moudi Hammoud before the approval of the cadre to 45 Dt.

According to the current cadre, the teacher gets an increase of up to 350 dinars (about $ 1150) on his basic salary, indicating that the higher the teacher in the degree of career increased with the financial increase according to the cadre.

Sheha says that the promotion regulations in the Ministry of Education are decided six years between each degree, but the staff cut that period in half if the teacher gets an excellent grade three consecutive years, where he raises the full score, with subsequent financial increases.

Sheha describes the cadre excellent, as he considers the rights of both the teacher and supervisory positions.

Prior to 2008, employees of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Education did not receive "excellent work" amounts, as is the case for most ministries of the state.

The value of this money increases according to the classification and grade of the teacher and supervisory positions, and the amount of money may amount to six hundred dinars (about two thousand dollars) according to the experience of the teacher, and treat the Gulf teacher working in Kuwait as his Kuwaiti counterparts.

An immigrant teacher receives an amount of four hundred dinars (about $ 1,300), if he gets an excellent estimate, but in return does not receive an annual increase such as a Kuwaiti or Gulf teacher only if he works as a mentor.

The "cadre of teachers", which was approved in 2011, was the fruit of a long struggle by the Kuwait Teachers Association, which drafted the law itself, and elaborated its financial increases, to be proactive in this area, where no union has ever done similar work, and the government usually works on Output increases and cadres by decisions of the Civil Service Bureau or the Civil Service Council.

Despite the government opposition at the time; the proposal received the support of a group of deputies, adopted by a number of them and put before the National Assembly, to be voted and approved, and then became effective.

Chairman of the Kuwaiti Teachers Association, Mutai Al-Ajmi, in his talk to Al-Jazeera Net, confirms that the endeavors of the association aim to support the Kuwaiti teacher and motivate national elements to move towards the profession of education and meet the needs of the State of rare specialties needed by the Ministry of Education in various scientific and literary disciplines.

Al-Ajmi adds that this law, which was issued strongly by the authority of the people and the National Assembly - as he described - added very great benefits to members of the teaching staff, as well as mentors and school administrations, and its impact became clear after covering many of the needs and specialties of Kuwaiti teachers, after the involvement of Kuwaiti students in College of Education, Kuwait University and Public Authority for Applied Education.

According to Ajami, the law includes the advantage of "rare specialization allowance", which is for scientific disciplines in which the proportion of Kuwaitis less than 30%, where they are given a allowance worth two hundred dinars (about 650 dollars).

The law did not overlook the encouragement of the teacher to obtain higher degrees, the value of the increase for the master's degree is two hundred dinars, while the value of the doctoral degree to four hundred dinars.

In 2017, the Kuwaiti Teachers Association succeeded, through the National Assembly, in introducing substantial amendments to the Teachers' Codes Law that would save the teacher the right to receive a full end-of-service bonus after part of it was deducted.

As for the expected objectives of the Teachers' Association, Al-Ajmi said that it has set its sights on the adoption of the proposal of the law on `` teacher protection '' in the next session of the National Assembly, which aims to create a safe environment within the walls of the school, and to protect educators from any attack, whether teenagers or their parents.

One of the articles of the law stipulates that the teacher has the right to review and sign his annual report, so that his job right is guaranteed by obtaining a grade appropriate to his work in the academic year.

"Whenever the teacher was appreciated physically and morally, this reflected positively on his performance and the outcomes of the entire educational process." In this sentence, the quality of life consultant Tahani Al-Mutairi summarized the importance of financial incentives and their impact on the education profession, which she considered difficult.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Al-Mutairi said that the profession of the teacher lies not only in education, but also in education, pointing out that the teacher in Kuwait has other responsibilities assigned by the school administration, such as supervisory matters and participation in local, regional and international competitions.

Al-Mutairi added that in exchange for the privileges granted to the Kuwaiti teacher, it is his responsibility to recognize the rights of the student, which requires him to develop his educational tools.

Al-Mutairi described the outcomes of the educational process in Kuwait as very successful and good, but it also requires the development of tools by focusing on the teacher rather than the curriculum, which is a source of knowledge to be diversified.