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In Kuwait, every parents, when choosing a school for their child, can give their preference to a private school as well as a public school. In this research paper the differences of both schooling systems will be reviewed and arguments on why one system is better than the other will be provided.
In Kuwait the government seeks to provide all children with proper education, irrespective of their social class or special needs. In Kuwait there are 664 public schools and 481 private schools. Most children in Kuwait go to public schools (about two thirds of all children). The private schools are mostly chosen by expatriates living in Kuwait, and teach advanced foreign language. Private schools usually have foreign sponsors and mostly provide co-education. Examples of private foreign schools in Kuwait are the British School of Kuwait (BSK), Bayan Bilingual School, the American School of Kuwait, the New English School (Kuwait), the American International School of Kuwait, the Kuwait English School, the French School and the Canadian School of Kuwait (CSK) (UNESCO Institute of Statistics, 2013). The state provides no financing for the private schools. They are financed by membersip.
Both systems of schooling provide an education of high quality. The government of the country is responsible for providing the schools with books and its goal is to organize a library in every school. Also, the government is interested in promotion of using the information technology by the students. There is a special project called “Education Net” that connects all of the schools and libraries of Kuwait into one big network, allowing to share information easily and quickly.
Private schools in Kuwait are supervised by the Ministry of Education and receive private tuition fees. They provide primary and secondary education just as the public schools. Alongside other subjects, foreign languages are studied extensively. They also teach other curricula, in addition to one that is approved by the state. Such schools may be owned by a single person as well as an organisation. Private schools in Kuwait have enrolment exams and select only the best pupils to be their members. They use different selection criteria. This is the first step of the selection, the second being the payment which not everyone can afford (World Data on Education, 2011). Private schools can have several branches located in different places. Supervisors and administrative personnel, just as in the public schools, are from Kuwait only. Private school’s classes include much less pupils than those of the public schools. Another significant difference is the fact that the private schools have one joint building for boys and girls while in public schools boys and girls are taught in separate buildings.
Public schools’ classes have much more members and there are no enrolment exams. There are also no or very low education fees (because the schools are subsidised by the government). The duration of classes is less in half an hour than in the private schools. They do not teach foreign languages so extensively, being centred mostly around technical subjects. Public schools in Kuwait, as all around the world, are a part of the bigger educational system which is financed and supported by the government, and to some extent depends on the political situation, which is negative, because the education process is ruled by the tendencies of political winds and shortfalls (Education System in Kuwait, 2014).
In many respects, private schools in Kuwait is a better preference. There are much less pupils in the class which makes the learning process more individual and allows the teachers to pay attention to the success of every student. Because of sponsorship, these schools are usually better equipped than the public schools. The teachers use more up-to-date materials.
Another advantage of private schools in Kuwait is the abovementioned foreign language education. Students win by learning new languages, it opens new possibilities of working and travelling for them. It acquaints them with new cultures and religions and shows them how to be more tolerant. Generally, many private schools in Kuwait are of deep subject specification offering advanced curriculum, elaborated study programs (Al-Duwaila, 2012). After obtaining education in such schools, it is easy for the person to apply for further education in prestigious universities.
Nevertheless, public schools are also a good alternative. The public schools have more modest equipment than private schools, however public schools still possess all the required training materials for the children to study effectively. Because the system of education in these schools is concentrated on technical subjects, it develops strong logical thinking and advanced reasoning in students, and is a perfect choose for those who have good mathematical abilities and wish to find a profession in exact sciences. These schools do not require any tests to pass before enrolment, which can be a stress for the child. So, public schools have their advantages over the private schools, too. Moreover, public schools are free to study at, and this is an undoubted advantage for many parents, because the fees are usually very high and most of the society cannot afford them.
As a conclusion it should be stated that private schools in Kuwait have more advantages than public schools, so parents should choose the private system of education if they are able to afford it. Nevertheless, the difference is not life-changing, the public schools in Kuwait are also equipped with everything necessary and provide education of high quality.
References
Al-Duwaila, A. (2012). A Comparative Study Between Kuwait’s Government and Private Sector Primary Schools in Methods of Teaching and Pupils’ Achievement in Mathematics. Retrieved from http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/7503/1/FulltextThesis.pdf
“Education System in Kuwait” (2014). Retrieved from http://www.kuwaiteducation.info/Education-System/index.html
UNESCO Institute of Statistics (2013). Retrieved from http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/as02-en.pdf
World Data on Education (2011). Kuwait. UNESCO. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002114/211441e.pdf
