Minister Dr Mohammad Al-Fares

KUWAIT: Minister of Oil and Minister of Higher Education Dr Mohammad Al-Fares said on Monday that the plan of resuming study at universities includes blended learning, which means both online and regular education. In a press statement, the minister said that separating the Ministry of Education from the Ministry of Higher Education aimed at upgrading education levels at the two ministries and giving further attention and concentration on them.

The Ministry of Higher Education focuses on two systems: learning at the country's universities and overseas scholarships, he said, noting that "we want to help the Kuwait University be in the ranks of the prestigious universities". Concerning the scholarship plan for the next year, Al-Fares declared two internal and external strategies, which aim to make scholarship plans compatible with the labor market, noting that this is part of the government's work program.

He said that he is responsible before the government for offering an integrated plan to make harmony between scholarships and the needs of labor market. He urged youths to search for specializations needed by the labor market, stating that there would be a link between the private universities or scholarships in opening some specializations, including hospitals management. He referred that the labor market controls outcomes and that scholarships for engineers have been suspended.

The minister revealed some rare engineering specializations, including mineral, safety and environment. He said that there is coordination with the Civil Service Commission to define job descriptions for many of education outputs in engineering, referring to harmonizing the labor market in the coming period.

Online learning was not a new tool as it has been implemented in Kuwait University, he said, asserting that it will be used by many members of teaching staff in the future along with the regular learning. He spoke about a number of locations of the Kuwaiti University like Shuwaikh, Jabriya, Khaldiya, Kaifan and Al-Shadadia. - KUNA