From centralized education to innovation: Cultural shifts in Kuwait’s education system

Abstract

This study focuses on the historical and cultural contexts surrounding Kuwait’s education system and the government’s efforts to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Primary and secondary sources and research in policy borrowing provide context to the problem of systemic change of an education system in a country that is trying to prepare its youth with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century. The commitment to improvement is evident, but the question is whether the political, professional, and popular determination is enough to implement the changes into the system and internalize them for sustainable reform. A case can be made that repeated efforts at policy borrowing that resulted in failure to internalize reforms can be used as the impetus for real and sustainable change.

Citation

Winokur, I.K. (2014), "From centralized education to innovation: Cultural shifts in Kuwait’s education system", Education for a Knowledge Society in Arabian Gulf Countries (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 24), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 103-124. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-367920140000024013