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Education reform has increasingly become a top political priority in most countries, as education is thought to be the solution to social and economic challenges. While some of these reforms were successful, others had no impact at all and ended in failure. In the past two decades, Kuwait has continuously attempted to reform its education system, aiming to shift its economy toward a knowledge-based economy by improving the skill sets of its human capital. However, these attempts ended with failure. The aim of this chapter is to provide an explanation of the causes behind the failures by documenting and analyzing the recent reform project, which was launched in 2010 in collaboration with the World Bank. Due to the Ministry of Education’s (MOE’s) lack of official documentation related to the reform process the ethnography approach was used to develop critical documentation of reform process. The ability of educational institutions, including the MOE, to lead and manage educational reform is a crucial factor that affected the sustainability and success of the reform. Consequently, the success of any reform requires the government to prioritize top policies, implements certain social changes, and ensures skilled human capital is incorporated into the educational institutions.

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.

This paper analyses the Kuwaiti Ministry of Education's (MOE’s) response during the pandemic by exploring the situation of public schooling in Kuwait and the reasons behind the failure of the MOE to provide education during the global COVID-19 crisis.

This study explores the policymaking process and the policy decisions by analysing how the MOE managed education during the crisis, by analysing the MOE's press announcements.

This article identifies opportunities the MOE missed over the past 18 years to implement online learning, and how by pausing all learning during this pandemic these resulted in the challenges the MOE is facing today. The main reasons behind this failure are not related to financial resources, but attributable to the professional capacity of the MOE's leaders to handle the education sector during this crisis. This included hesitation about making decisions and the lack of readiness of the school infrastructure. The paper concludes by offering recommendations that could inform future policy planning.

This paper offers insights into the educational policymaking process in Kuwait, especially during times of crisis.

The extent of Private Supplementary Tutoring (PST) upon higher education has received little attention in the academic literature. This study endeavours to discover the extent of the PST phenomenon and the socioeconomic determinants behind the demand for it amongst students in science-related disciplines at Kuwait University (KU).

A quantitative research paradigm was employed. By using a questionnaire survey method, data was collected from 475 participating students from twelve different colleges at KU. The questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS.

The findings showed that 50.1% of students employing PST in KU to some extent. The study also found that PST is more important in certain subjects than others. The students and/or their families also bear the cost of these extra educational expenses. The findings also indicated that a college student’s gender, the academic year of study, university allowance, alternative income sources, family financial status and monetary support all play a statistically significant role in whether they receive PST.

deeper analysis of these factors, which underly the demand for PST, may offer a better understanding of its role in higher education, the functionality of higher education as a whole, and the effects of current policy and the political landscape.

While significant attention has been given to PST in K-12 education over the last few decades, this study is extended significantly into the as-yet uncharted waters of higher education. This study focused on PST in higher education and the socioeconomic determinants behind its demand.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of administration and faculty members in developing character education within public and private universities in Kuwait. It further aims to explore the value of character education in effecting the quality experience of higher education.

The researchers employed a quantitative research paradigm, using a questionnaire survey method to collect data from faculty members at major public and private Kuwaiti universities. They used Statistical Package for the Social Sciences to analyze a total of 298 questionnaires.

The findings revealed that universities do indeed play a “strong” role in student character education. However, within public universities, it is the faculty themselves who form the key ingredient in the process rather than the administrative body, which is perceived to have a “Medium” effect. Conversely, at private universities, the administration and faculty both merited a “strong” role in developing character education.

The study will provide leaders with several recommendations to improve the integrated development of universities through fostering character education.

While K-12 education has received significant attention regarding the moral and character development of students over the last few decades, this study, extends this research significantly into higher education; focusing upon character development at university and comparing its implementation at both public and private institutions.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a clearer picture of the first establishment of school libraries in Kuwait. In addition, the paper explores the development of the school library between 1911 and 1962.

The paper adopts a qualitative research strategy. The interviews and documentation techniques have been utilized to gather data about the subject.

The findings traced the first appearance of the school library in Kuwait back to 1944. It showed that the development of the library encountered major difficulties.

The unique study reveals a branch of Kuwaiti education history hitherto concealed from its people, where the recognition of other disciplines in the field and the need for further study emerges.

The Library and Information Science (LIS) discipline face challenges such as technology applications and information overload in its effort to remain relevant in the challenging job market. This study aims to determine the skills and knowledge needed for LIS professionals in the job market to rethink the current syllabus and offer better future employability.

The research used a survey method to collect data concerning personal information, LIS employment opportunities, job titles and skills needed. Content analysis followed to determine librarianship job listings and the need for LIS graduate jobs in Kuwait.

The findings suggested difficulties and challenges; they also compiled a comprehensive list of skills needed and recommended courses and institutions hiring LIS graduates. The research improves decision-making in syllabus development and experiences recommended by employers.

Academic departments can follow this research to develop and update their syllabuses according to the requirements of the job market, thus offering better future job opportunities.

As LIS graduates are provided with better education, the updating of their employability skills will help them socially by recognising their employment status and economically by raising their pay.

The research is the first in Kuwait to collect LIS job titles and analyse employability needs.

Design for safety (DfS), also known as prevention through design (PtD), is a concept that mitigates accidents and hazards through considerations during the design stage of building projects. The literature provides much information on this concept, but such information is only limited to a few developed countries such as the UK, the USA and Australia. There is limited insight into DfS implementation in the construction industry of several countries, including countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) such as Kuwait. Therefore, this study investigates DfS implementation among design professionals in the Kuwait construction industry.

The study used a questionnaire survey to obtain data from design professionals. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics (i.e. analysis of variance and t-test).

The results revealed that DfS awareness among design professionals is very high; there is a very high willingness among design professionals to apply the concept, and design professionals generally view DfS implementation as important. Despite these, the frequency of implementation of DfS practices is generally moderate. In addition, the results revealed that though there is a high interest in DfS training among the design professionals, their actual engagement in training is low. The results also suggest some association between the frequency of engagement in the DfS practices and designers' DfS awareness, training and education. DfS related regulations, industry guidance, formal education and training are considered by design professionals to have the greatest influence on DfS implementation in Kuwait.

These emerging findings both mirror and contradict aspects of the outcomes of previous DfS studies in other countries. Furthermore, the findings from this study provide insights into a less investigated area regarding work-related health and safety in the GCC region. It offers new and additional information and insights into the current state-of-the-art DfS implementation in the construction industry in Kuwait. In view of the findings, joined-up efforts by government, industry and academia are needed to enhance DfS implementation by design professionals in Kuwait.

The quality of higher education has become a topic of increasing interest to researchers in recent decades. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the comparative effectiveness of instructors at higher education institutions in Kuwait and the USA, while also investigating the parallel differences in student culture and gender.

The researchers employed a quantitative research paradigm, using a questionnaire survey method to examine four dimensions of effective instructorship (teaching skills, human relations, ethics, and assessment). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data from 254 college students (N = 254), comprising 132 students at Bemidji State University in the USA and 122 students at Kuwait University in Kuwait.

The findings showed that students ranked “human relations” as the most significant attribute of an effective university instructor. Study results also indicated that culture is an important influencer of student perceptions regarding effective instructor characteristics. Gender also played a role in student perceptions of teacher effectiveness. Cross-culturally, female participants ranked teacher effectiveness dimensions such as human relations, ethics, and assessment, significantly higher than did their male colleagues, while within each culture, male students at the American university showed significantly greater concern for ethics in comparison to their counterparts in Kuwait.

This study offers findings from a cross-cultural comparative perspective. It provides value to administrators, deans, and department chairs at higher educational institutions who are evaluating their current rank, tenure, and promotions criteria and processes for teaching faculty. Additionally, while K-12 education has received significant attention over the past few decades regarding the qualities and practices of effective teachers in that realm, this study extends such research significantly into higher education.

This study aimed to explore Kuwaiti public school principals' experiences in relation to autonomy and accountability after the implementation of the School Education Quality Improvement Project, which aimed to increase the autonomy and accountability of Kuwaiti public schools.

This study adopted a qualitative approach using semistructured interviews with 24 Kuwaiti public school principals who had participated in the education reform project.

The study results indicated that Kuwaiti public school principals have limited autonomy in four main areas: accountability, personnel management, budget allocation and instructional programs. The results also revealed that the Integrated Education Reform Program failed to develop more autonomy in schools, creating a lack of balance between autonomy and accountability.

The study's findings on school principals' experiences of autonomy in the reform era will be informative for policymakers. Practical suggestions are provided to reduce the autonomy gap in schools.