Ministry needs 680 teachers, only allowed to hire up to 500

KUWAIT: New job vacancies for expats that the Ministry of Education (MoE) will hire for the 2019-2020 school year will be restricted for teachers alone as per the Civil Service Commission's (CSC) regulations, well-informed educational sources said. The CSC informed the ministry that it will not authorize the appointment of expats in MoE unless they are teachers, the source said, adding that MoE needs 680 teachers, but will only be allowed to hire 400 to 500.

The sources said a hiring committee to be dispatched to Palestine, Jordan and Tunisia has been formed and will leave soon, which is considered late compared to previous years when committees used to be dispatched in February. "This delay will lead to delaying those teachers' recruitment just like what happened last year and will make the best teachers get better contracts in other GCC states that usually start the process much earlier," the sources warned.

Cash flow
Well-informed sources said that amendments to annex number 13 of Al-Debdebah solar power project aim to improve cash flows for the project contractor. The sources added that top amendments include payments to purchase 4-8 ( 16 in some cases) per cent of the materials in a way that allows the contractor to have enough cash at hand and reduces bank interests.

Energy Transition Index
Kuwait has jumped nine places to be ranked 87th worldwide on the Energy Transition Index issued by the World Economic Forum, comprising of 115 countries. Kuwait scored 49 percent in the index, which is a 4 percent improvement compared to last year. Kuwait also scored 55 percent on the system performance and 43 percent on readiness for transition compared to 37 percent in 2018.

The Energy Transition Index measures economies in two ways. Firstly, each economy is assessed for its energy "system performance". This takes into account three criteria regarded as critical for transitioning to the future, namely: Security and access, environmental sustainability and economic growth and development. The latter measures economic impact to households, industry and export revenues. It also depends on assessing infrastructure, human resources and energy system structures.

Meanwhile, Qatar came first in GCC states as it was ranked 65th on the index, followed by UAE, which was ranked 67th. Oman was 68th, while Bahrain came in at 92 and Saudi Arabia 98. Notably, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Austria, UK, France, Holland and Iceland were respectively ranked as the top 10 countries on this year's index.