Coeducation in Kuwait

Kuwait

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Kuwait

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Coeducation in Kuwait has been a contentious issue since the Islamists gained power in parliament in the 1990s.

In 1996, conservative Kuwaiti lawmakers banned co-ed classes at the state universities and technical colleges, including Kuwait University. The ban prohibited mixing of the sexes in classes, libraries, cafeterias, labs, and extracurricular activities at Kuwait University. Compliance was lax until 1997, when Education Minister Misaed Haroun committed to full segregation by the end of the next school year.^[1]

In 2000, when foreign universities were first allowed to open branches in Kuwait, the ban was extended to those institutions as well.^[2]

On February 6, 2008, MP Ali Al-Rashid proposed a bill that would allow men and women to take classes together in Kuwaiti universities, which would reverse the 12-year-old ban on coeducation. On the topic, Al-Rashid said: "Kuwait University was established in the 1960s as a co-ed university. Segregating students only came in 1996. If we are to go back to the origin of things, Kuwait University then is originally a co-ed facility. Religion is clear about this subject."

On the same day that he proposed the bill, Al-Rashid allegedly received a death threat. According to Al-Rashid, an angry man left a threatening message at Al-Rashid's office. "If he doesn't withdraw the bill, seven bullets will settle the matter," Al-Rashid described the caller as saying in the course of an insult-filled rant. Al-Rashid said police told him they arrested a suspect and he was being interrogated. Soon afterwards, police told Al-Rashid that they had apprehended and were interrogating a suspect in the threat, a retired civil servant.^[3]

According to Al-Rashid, university teachers and officials have complained it has been difficult and costly to teach male and female students separately. Among Kuwait's neighbors, state universities are coed in Bahrain and Oman, but segregated in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.^[1] Conservative lawmakers want to extend the ban to foreign primary and secondary schools. Kuwaiti primary and secondary schools are already gender segregated.

On February 28, 2008, political activist and Kuwait University professor Dr Mohammad Dohaim Al-Deferi criticised Al-Rashid's push for coeducation, arguing that even prominent figures like US President George W Bush supported the idea of establishing schools that segregated the sexes. He argued that MPs should concentrate more on other important issues and implement developmental plans instead of focusing on this issue.^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Coeducation Nears End at Kuwait University - Los Angeles Times
2. ^ Kuwait MP Gets Threat Over Education Bill
3. ^ Search - Global Edition - The New York Times
4. ^ Al-Deferi slams stance on coeducation » Kuwait Times Website