Kuwait: MP demands for emergency NA session on education

MP Faisal Al-Mislem has renewed his demands for an emergency session of the National Assembly (parliament) Council to discuss the problem of the unaccepted students in the Kuwait University. The lawmaker insisted that Kuwait University's undertaking to accept all the students currently without places during the next semester is an inadequate response to the problem, adding that an emergency session is essential to resolve the issue, which he said is why MPs have called for one. Al-Mislem insisted that Kuwait University's decision to offer all the remaining Kuwaiti high school graduates places in the second semester of the 2011-12 academic year is simply a sign of the government's attempt to suggest that the problem is limited to only those students not previously accepted by the university. This was untrue, he asserted, since the government is ignoring around 2,000 students refused scholarship programs, with a further 5,000 being turned down for places in the army, police and Na tional Guard's training facilities. These problems mean that Kuwait University's decision to accept all the high school graduates who applied for places does not diminish the need for an emergency parliamentary session, the MP insisted, adding that this session should be used to seek full and conclusive solutions to the current problems in order to ensure that they don't recur in the future. Meanwhile, GCC finance ministers are to meet in November to discuss recommendations put forward by the body's unified customs union after postponing their approval of the proposed measures on more than one occasion previously. The ministers have reportedly failed to reach agreement to date due to differences over the suggested financial percentages to be allocated for each state from the customs revenue, said an insider, but there is general agreement on the need to reach consensus on the matter at the upcoming meeting, with a number of suggestions put forward on how best to attain an equitable and agreeable division for all involved. Meanwhile, a government insider revealed yesterday that the Council of Ministers is to meet in October to approve the establishment of two now electricity supply firms in the Khairan and Al-Zoor areas. The move comes after the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) and the relevant ministerial committees finalized the preparations for the two companies' establishment. If their establishment is approved by the Council of Ministers and the parliament, the two new firms may start work in the first half of 2012, revealed the insider, adding that the Kuwaiti public will be offered 50 percent of the shares in both companies.