KUWAIT: Education Ministry Assistant Undersecretary for Private and Quality Education Abdelmohsen Al-Huwailah issued a decision approving the opening of International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) classes in foreign schools that have Indian and Pakistani education systems for the secondary stage only, to be taught during morning hours along with the other curricula. IGCSE is an English language curriculum offered to students to prepare them for International Baccalaureate, A Level and BTEC Level 3. Procedures for applying to open IGCSE classes in private schools include:

* An application to the private education department, along with information about the partner education entity that will issue the international certificate.

* The private education department reviews the application.

* When the school receives the approval of the ministry to open IGCSE classes and completes registration with the partner entity that issues the international certificate, the school will send the registration certificate and reports related to it to the private education department.

Hydrogen sulfide

Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) is providing research results to the Environment Public Authority, Kuwait Municipality and the ministries of public works and electricity and water with regards to estimating hydrogen sulfide gas levels in underground waters at construction sites in order to control the spread of unpleasant odors around Kuwait City. KISR is preparing a well to collect samples of underground waters, said Asem Al-Khalid from the water research center of KISR, explaining that hydrogen sulfide is poisonous and hazardous for those at the site and causes corrosion in sewer pipes and some other metals.

First Ring Road

Director of First Ring Road bridges and roads project Khalida Al-Salem said 62 percent of the project's work is complete, saying that the project comes within the plan of developing the traffic network and increasing its capacity. She said work is going ahead with cooperation and coordination between all concerned departments in order to increase the capacity of the current road and reduce congestion. She said the project includes three intersections, five bridges, three tunnels and two pedestrian bridges, in addition to renewing telephone, water and power networks as well as other services.

Price increases

Commerce and Industry Minister Khalid Al-Roudhan said some companies applied for price increase through the website of the union of cooperative societies and not through the ministry. He said the ministry did not discuss any application for price increases. He said the ministry is keen on implementing law 10/1979, amended by law 117/2013, with regards to supervising trade in goods and services and setting the prices of some of them. He added the ministry continues to monitor prices of consumer products in various areas of Kuwait, and asks for price lists to make sure merchants are complying with declared prices. Roudhan said the ministry is running awareness campaigns for consumers to help boost consumers' supervisory role to inform about any artificial price increases through the hotline 135.

Charity project

Director General of Kuwait Food Bank Salem Al-Hamar said the 2018 udhiya (sacrifice) project is being carried out in cooperation with the Zakat House, which the food bank launches before Eid Al-Adha every year. The project aims at distributing sacrificial meat to the poor and needy during Eid. He said a number of centers of Zakat House will be open on the first day of Eid Al-Adha, including Salmiya (morning only), Dhahiyat Abdullah Al-Salem (morning and evening), Fahd Al-Ahmad (morning), Kaifan (morning), and Yarmouk (morning). The morning hours are from 7 am until 1 pm, while the evening hours are from 1 pm until 7 pm. He said Arab and Australian sheep worth between KD 70 to KD 100 will be sacrificed and expected to cover more than 3,000 families.

Mackerel fishing ban

Kuwait Fishermen Union President Dhaher Al-Suwayyan said mackerel fishing will be banned for the first time in Kuwait for two months starting from Aug 15 until Oct 15 in Kuwait's territorial waters, like other Gulf countries. He said fishermen must comply with the ban as punishments will be levied on violators. He said most fishermen would like to be allowed to fish for shrimp in territorial waters so that Kuwait's share is not wasted, according to him.

Women sentenced

Two women were sentenced to 15 years in jail for luring men to their house to commit immoral acts. After the women lured the men to their house or other places, they were beaten by other men who robbed them of their money. The victims were also photographed. Meanwhile, 500 citizens were sent to the prosecution for receiving labor support allowances although they remained at home.

Pens removed

A campaign at the sheep holding pens in Rai resulted in the removal of 65 pens and 10 tents. Separately, Head of the central emergency team at the Municipality Meshal Al-Malek said 267 cubic meters of scrap was removed.

By A Saleh