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Kuwaiti turnaround increases benefits for female expat teachers
| Published: | 18 Mar at 6 PM |
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Tagged: Jobs, Teach Abroad
In a surprising turnaround from its stance over the past several years, Kuwait has announced improvements in the benefits available to expat teachers in Emirate schools.
The recent initiative to reduce the huge number of expats working in the Emirate and stimulate the jobs market for Kuwaitis seems to have been slammed into reverse gear by the new announcement. Just several months ago, Kuwaiti media reported that around a quarter of the expat teacher workforce was to be let go, with teachers whose subject matter could be covered by native Kuwaitis were to be the first to leave.
Given the massive drop in oil revenues and the government’s worrying budget deficit, decreasing the number of highly salaried expat workers seemed a logical if unpopular step. The expat teacher community’s fears that today’s announcement might contain even more bad news were swiftly laid to rest as it became clear that, rather than losing their jobs, expat teachers were to gain financial benefits from the changes.
Female teachers who had been receiving far lower housing allowances than their male colleagues will now receive parity, upping their allowance from 60 dinars per month to the male rate of 150 dinars. As if the surprising move towards female equality in this male-dominated society wasn’t enough, the increases are planned to be retrospective dating back to 2011.
However, this is Kuwait, and female equality is a sensitive subject for many. Media reports state that a number of Kuwaiti ministers are less than overjoyed at the new proposal and are expected to take measures to prevent the changes being implemented. The first issue of concern is that the Emirate’s present financial stresses won’t be helped by raising expat allowances, with the second pointing out the discrepancy between allowances to expat female teachers and those paid to native female teachers married to foreign men. Expat teachers whether male or female, should not, according to some conservative politicians, be getting benefits the native population can’t receive.
The recent initiative to reduce the huge number of expats working in the Emirate and stimulate the jobs market for Kuwaitis seems to have been slammed into reverse gear by the new announcement. Just several months ago, Kuwaiti media reported that around a quarter of the expat teacher workforce was to be let go, with teachers whose subject matter could be covered by native Kuwaitis were to be the first to leave.
Given the massive drop in oil revenues and the government’s worrying budget deficit, decreasing the number of highly salaried expat workers seemed a logical if unpopular step. The expat teacher community’s fears that today’s announcement might contain even more bad news were swiftly laid to rest as it became clear that, rather than losing their jobs, expat teachers were to gain financial benefits from the changes.
Female teachers who had been receiving far lower housing allowances than their male colleagues will now receive parity, upping their allowance from 60 dinars per month to the male rate of 150 dinars. As if the surprising move towards female equality in this male-dominated society wasn’t enough, the increases are planned to be retrospective dating back to 2011.
However, this is Kuwait, and female equality is a sensitive subject for many. Media reports state that a number of Kuwaiti ministers are less than overjoyed at the new proposal and are expected to take measures to prevent the changes being implemented. The first issue of concern is that the Emirate’s present financial stresses won’t be helped by raising expat allowances, with the second pointing out the discrepancy between allowances to expat female teachers and those paid to native female teachers married to foreign men. Expat teachers whether male or female, should not, according to some conservative politicians, be getting benefits the native population can’t receive.
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