ShareKUWAIT: The total number of small and medium enterprise (SME) licenses registered at the Public Authority for Manpower is 7,876 distributed to 4,436 files, Director Ahmad Al-Moussa said in a statement yesterday. that the total number of files suspended for violations is 363, Moussa added, without specifying the type of violations committed. Moussa stressed that the authority will never allow economic activities that violate labor laws and warned that legal actions are immediately taken against violators. A recent report had alleged that a number of SME owners were recently discovered to have been involved in visa trafficking.
Grand Mosque visits
In a letter addressed to the awqaf ministry's assistant undersecretary for cultural affairs, Grand Mosque director Roumi Al-Roumi explained that Muslims and non-Muslims' visits to the Grand Mosque has been organized through official bodies for state visitors since 1994, adding that a fatwa was issued in this regard allowing non-Muslims to visit the mosque to show them Islam's moderation and introduce Islam to them. Roumi remarked that non-Muslim visitors have to follow certain guidelines during the visit, adding that according to travel website Tripadvisor, the Grand Mosque is the second-most visited landmark in Kuwait.
Separately, Kuwait Municipality Director Ahmad Al-Manfouhi said a study to privatize tourists' transport stations will be made within Kuwait's fourth structural plan. Responding to an inquiry by municipal councilmember Abdullah Al-Roumi concerning youth centers in Hawally governorate, Manfouhi said the municipality is currently studying requests by beneficiaries to privatize the land plots they are utilizing.
School accident
Ministry of Education's Undersecretary Saud Al-Harbi, the acting assistant undersecretary for public education Fahd Al-Ghaiss and Hawally educational zone director Mansour Al-Thaferie yesterday visited Abdullah Abdullatif Al-Omar primary school for boys to follow up the accident in which a schoolboy was run over by a catering truck.
During the visit, Harbi heard testimonies of the school administration and some teachers about the accident and urged them all to pay more attention and fully observe safety and security measures inside the school. In addition, Harbi ordered the formation of a special committee to investigate the incident and hold whoever is responsible legally accountable.
In another educational concern, recent educational statistics for the school year 2017-2018 showed a rise in the numbers of teachers, students, schools and classes in all types of schools including public, private, religious and special education institutions. Statistics showed the total number of schools in 2017-2018 was 1,489 compared to 1,483 in 2016-2017, and that the total number of classes was 26,251 compared to 25,773 in the previous year.
Statistics showed that the total number of public schools is 822 with 16,090 classes, adding that there are 566 schools and 99,219 classes in the private sector, 16 special education schools including 240 classes, 11 religious schools including 139 classes and 74 evening schools including 563 classes. In addition, statistics showed that the total number of school students in 2017-2018 is 683,359 compared to 674,470 in the previous year, while the total number of teaching staff members are 85,949 compared to 88,259 in the previous year.
By A Saleh
