Kuwait’s Education System: CBSE | AISSE | AISSCE

Kuwait, located at the top of the Persian Gulf, promotes an educational policy that aims to provide equal opportunities to all children (including students with special needs), regardless of gender and social level. Kuwait’s oil wealth has significantly contributed to the development of the Kuwaiti educational system.

A Brief History of Kuwait’s Education System:

At the onset of the 20th century, there were only a few educational facilities in the country.  At that time, only a few Quranic schools known as Al-Katatib taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. There was no formal education system in the first half of the century, and any funding came primarily from Kuwait’s wealthy citizens.

As oil production increased after World War II, the government began investing significant money in social services, particularly education. By 1960s, Kuwait had around 45,000 students enrolled in its educational system, with 18,000 of them are female.

Following the 1960s, the education system progressed even further. According to the 1962 Constitution, which expresses the conviction that education is a fundamental right of all citizens, education is promoted and encouraged by the state. As a result, schooling became obligatory in 1965 for all children, and a private school system emerged in 1967, aided by government subsidies.

Kuwait‘s Current Education System:

• Nowadays, Kuwait’s education system is growing like never before. Currently, there are two types of schools in Kuwait – public schools and private schools.
• The public schools typically follow the Arabic curriculum and are gender-segregated.
• The Private schools are roughly evenly divided between Arabic-medium schools that follow Kuwait’s official curriculum and foreign language schools that follow different curricula (e.g., American, British, French, International Baccalaureate, and Indian – CBSE curriculum Kuwait).
• Furthermore, for schools, Kuwait’s basic education system is divided into three tiers – Primary, Intermediate and Secondary. There is an optional pre-school education provided via nursery schools or kindergarten.

• In Kuwait, schooling begins at the age of 6, and pre-school is available for 4-6 years old children.
• Schooling is mandatory for all children aged 6-14 years old, i.e. primary and intermediate levels. All stages of state education are free, including higher education.
• English begins in the second grade in all Kuwaiti schools.
• Even though government education is readily available, many Kuwaitis prefer to enrol their children in private schools. There are several of these accessible, and many of them are co-ed and have foreign sponsors.
• The government does not fully support private education but provides considerable subsidies. In addition to allotting land for school buildings and delivering textbooks, the Kuwaiti government invests more than KD 5.6 million each year in private educational facilities.

Post-Secondary or Higher education system in Kuwait:

The post-secondary or higher education comprises both technical and vocational courses offered by state institutes and private universities, approved by Kuwait’s  Ministry of Higher Education.

CBSE based education in Kuwait:

CBSE stands for Central Board of Secondary Education- is the front-runner education board established & run by the Government of India. It is the most preferred curriculum for Indian expatriates in Kuwait.

Just like in India, CBSE is responsible for conducting two board examinations every year for grades 10th & 12th in addition to prescribing exam conditions, patterns, duration and issuing qualifying certificates to all the qualified candidates via schools in Kuwait as well.

The two examinations conducted by CBSE Kuwait are AISSE (All India Secondary School Examination) for grade 10th & AISSCE (All India Senior School Certificate Examination) for grade 12th.

As a part of CBSE’s recently-introduced Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) program, the board administers the AISSE during March and April.

CBSE syllabus Kuwait:

All the CBSE-affiliated schools in Kuwait are instructed to follow the prescribed NCERT syllabus.

AISSE Kuwait:

The AISSE School Completion Certificate, Marksheet, and Migration Certificate are given to successful candidates to continue their future education.

The exams cover five subjects, including English, a Language (Native or Foreign), Sciences, Mathematics, and Social Sciences, each contributing 100 marks, totalling 500 marks. The score helps students determine their stream – Science, Commerce, or Arts/ Humanities.

AISSCE Kuwait:

The All India Senior School Certificate Examination is a higher qualification exam pursued by CBSE students. AISSCE scores are accessed by Universities while deciding whether or not to admit students to various degree programs.

CBSE Kuwait students are eligible to appear for various national and international Olympiads, and Science stream students are eligible for competitive exams like IIT-JEE (Mains + Advanced) & NEET-UG. Upon successful qualification, based on their marks & cut-offs, they can pursue higher studies in reputed institutes, universities, and colleges of their choice across India and abroad. Both NEET and JEE exams have examination centres in Kuwait for students to take exams near their homes.

The education system in Kuwait indicates the popularity of the CBSE-based Indian curriculum owning to the fact that Indians make up around 22% of the Kuwait’s population. If you are an NRI student residing in Kuwait and preparing for various competitive exams like IIT-JEE, NEET-UG, and Olympiads, then ALLEN Overseas is the leading coaching institute that provides 360-degree academic support to help you achieve your dream success. With our interactive hybrid classroom program, you can start your academic journey towards excellence under the mentorship of the most-skilled edu-experts of ALLEN Overseas. For any queries, comments, or doubts, get in touch with us, and we’ll gladly assist you.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Question: What percentage of Kuwait’s population is educated?

Answer: Last measured in 2020, Kuwait’s literacy rate for people aged 15 or above was 96.46%.

Question: What are the school timings in Kuwait?

Answer: School timings vary depending on the school, curriculum and grade, but the general timings are between 7:30 AM to 3:00 PM, Sunday to Thursday.

Question: How long is the summer break in Kuwait?

Answer: In Kuwait, the summer break extends from late May or early June to late September or early October. However, it can vary depending on the school and curricula.

Question: Are phones allowed in Kuwait’s schools?

Answer: No, mobile phone usage is strictly prohibited in schools of Kuwait.

Question: Are the board exam paper is same for Indian and NRI students residing in Kuwait?

Answer: No, though the paper pattern, marking scheme, exam syllabus and difficulty level is same, CBSE provides a different set of question papers for NRI/ Overseas students.

If you have any queries or suggestions, kindly let us know in the comments section below.

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