KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education (MOE) on Wednesday approved the 2020-2021 academic year's calendar for staff and students in all educational stages at public and Arabic private schools, during which classes will remain online pending updates from the ministry. According to the calendar, the new year will begin on October 4, 2020 for all stages and end on May 6 for kindergarten, on June 13 for primary stage, on June 13 for intermediate stage and on June 24 for secondary stge.

The calendar also shows that the mid-term vacation will be in the period of February 14-24, 2021, whereas the final exams for grade 12 will be held in the period of June 13-24, 2021. Accordingly, MOE stated that all schools have been disinfected and cleaned before teachers start work on resuming the remaining period of the academic year 2019-2020 for the grade 12 stage, adding that all teachers underwent special training courses to provide e-learning using the 'Microsoft Teams' software. MOE also stressed that all precautionary measures are strictly followed in various schools in terms of wearing masks and gloves, social distancing and using sterilizers.

In other news, audit and control bodies in Kuwait are currently looking into the economic feasibility of the education ministry's decision to extend contracts to hire buses and drivers to transport school students despite the decision to opt to online learning for the coming period, a local daily reported yesterday. "This topic was brought to attention when the education ministry repeatedly asked to extend the contracts despite the precautionary measures taken to fight COVID-19 and the fact that transportation is not needed for the time being," Al-Rai daily reported quoting sources.