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Native Kuwaitis make up less than half of the country’s population, and some estimates place the number of expatriates in the workforce at 80%. At the same time, a burgeoning young population and lack of skilled young men and women to replace foreign labour creates an unemployment problem for which there are no easily available and transparent statistics. These are the major issues the Kuwaiti government is currently tackling.
The policy of Kuwaitisation is therefore seen as essential for the country’s development. However, it is a huge challenge to find employment for school leavers and university graduates. The government sector is over-manned by 45%, and young graduates awaiting postings in government departments either sit at home or take English and IT courses in the city’s growing number of private training institutes.
The general educational system extends over 12 years and is divided into three stages - primary, intermediate and secondary – each lasting four years. The primary stage may be preceded by two years of kindergarten schooling.
An education overseas is affordable for many, and a considerable number of families have opted to send their children abroad in the hope that a foreign degree will ease their entrance into a prestigious post. Several government agencies fund foreign scholarships for Kuwaiti nationals, and Australia, Japan and USA offer scholarships to Kuwaitis.
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