By B Izzak

KUWAIT: The education ministry yesterday decided to extend the midyear school break by two weeks, with public and private Arabic schools to reopen on March 6. The postponement came partly as part of efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus. This will allow students and the teaching staff to enjoy the national holidays and the Israa and Meraj religious holiday before going back to school. The decision came despite a sharp drop in the number of coronavirus cases, which declined from a peak of over 6,900 cases on January 28 to just over 4,200 cases on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly holds a regular session today and is expected to debate a grilling filed by MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri against Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Sabah over alleged failure to perform his duties. The minister has the right to demand a delay of the debate, but the Assembly should vote on such a request.

But Muwaizri said yesterday he is confident the minister will face the grilling today and answer a series of questions. The lawmaker alleged that the minister has failed to protect Kuwait’s political and security interests abroad and failed to stop squandering of public funds at agencies under his supervision.

Sheikh Ahmad, the son of former prime minister HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, is also Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs. The minister has demanded more clarifications to the allegations, but the lawmaker said the points are more than clear. Under Kuwait’s law, the grilling can lead to a no-confidence motion when 10 lawmakers sign it. If 24 elected MPs support the motion, the minister will be dismissed from his post.

The Assembly is also scheduled to debate a draft law stipulating to grant tens of thousands of stateless people, known as bedoons, their basic humanitarian rights like free education, health and jobs in both the private and public sectors. Such rights should continue to be offered until the issue of bedoons is resolved, according to the bill.