KUWAIT: The Civil Service Commission is considering a proposal to increase the allowances of members overseeing and grading exams at the request of the education ministry. The commission asked for the amount of the proposed allowance and the current annual cost of such allowances, in addition to the requested annual increases. Sources expected the proposal to be approved, especially since it was made on the instructions of the education minister.

The sources said the ministry told the commission the annual cost according to what is being paid now (2017-2018) is KD 6 million over two semesters, after canceling the four semester system. The ministry said the total value of the proposed allowance for those handling the examinations for the next fiscal year 2019-2020 is estimated at KD 7.5 million.

The CSC also announced that Tuesday, Jan 1, 2019 will be an official holiday.

Health insurance tender woes

The tender for providing health insurance for expats is facing many technical issues that may lead to canceling and reissuing it, which means that official authorities are not comfortable with it. It was found that five companies from the same group were trying to win it through different offers, although they are directly and indirectly related. The fatwa and legislation department said if the health ministry wants to sign contracts to provide the service of registering subscribers for health insurance, then they should follow the contracting routes mentioned in law 49/2016 with regards to public tenders.

7 new schools to open

Sources said the education ministry is preparing to open seven new schools in January. They said the ministry is putting the final touches on five schools in Sabah Al-Ahmad residential city (one kindergarten, two elementary, one intermediate and one secondary), in addition to an elementary school with female teachers in Qairawan and a school in Jaber Al-Ahmad.

By A Saleh