Many teachers, especially of Western nationalities, work without work visas, which is illegal. Dozens of them start the academic year, then leave for Christmas vacations and do not return. Others have to leave the country every three months for a day or two as their tourist visa expires in three months.
“Teachers should enter the country on work permits as they are coming to work here. If they enter the country on a different visa, they will be held responsible. There should be a contract between the teacher and the school, and without it, the school may terminate the teacher at any time without any rights. But if there is a contract and the teacher’s residency is on the school, he or she can get their rights from the ministry of social affairs and labor, which is the concerned body,” explained Basri.
A joint committee of the Ministry of Interior, MSAL and the municipality is responsible for this. “This committee reviews all the IDs of the teachers, their contracts, degrees and experience certificates. After submitting the complete file with these papers, the ministry will give the approval and the visa will be issued. The teachers should enter Kuwait on business visas and not tourist ones. The school should print the residency on their passports and then issue the civil IDs. Our administrative and financial affairs department goes on field visits to the schools to check the status of teachers and issues fines to violating schools that do not transfer the visas of teachers,” he stated.
“If during these visits a teacher is caught working on a visit visa, he or she will be deported and blacklisted. Even those on family visas are not allowed to work, and will be held responsible. Also, when teachers demand certificates of experience at the end of their tenure, these won’t be issued unless their residencies are with the schools. The ministry can’t force any school to employ a teacher, but if the employer doesn’t transfer the visa of the teacher, then he or she can leave whenever they want,” Basri concluded.
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Hi,
ReplyDeleteI'm a teacher with a degree offered a position in Kuwait. I have red many articles similar to this one about issues for teachers in Kuwait.. are these only issues for people with out their degrees/ come without a contract already? I want to make sure before signing my contract.
Rebeka
Hi, most of the problems are with the school itself, they bring teachers here and do not get them their legal residencies forcing teachers to hide when they come to check. If you don't receive your residency soon after working there's a problem. Some companies wait until the 100 day probation period is over as well.
ReplyDelete