Education Regression

On Monday night, I interrupted my movie viewing (Y Tu Mama Tambien, if you're interested) to catch a few minutes of Sheikh Sabah's televised cabinet meeting with the Minister of Education and his ministry assistants.



It was painful...

I don't want to knock the purpose behind this telecast - mainly because I'm not sure what it is - but I squirmed in embarrassment watching grown men get up and present some vague plan for education up to the year 2025 (that's right folks, 2025!! it wasn't a typo!), while Sheikh Sabah listened closely and beamed at them like they were his grandchildren at a school play. Do public schools even put on plays anymore, or did the Islamists replace them with lessons about eternal damnation in hell? Anyway, 10 minutes was more than I could take so I went back to my sexy movie. Highly recommended, by the way.

Yesterday, Al-Watan's headline screamed that Sheikh Sabah had complained in the session that our curriculum hadn't changed since the days of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Jaber (RIP). My first thought was, with all due respect, "where have you been ya Bu Nasser?!" Of course it's changed, and it's getting worse by the day, and instead of producing well-rounded students ready to be productive citizens, we have imbeciles obsessed with.... nothing!

Leave it to Abdul-Latif Al-Duaij to kick ass today and remind us that the Islamist stranglehold on education has regressed our schools back to the dark ages, and that when he was growing up in the late 50's and early 60's he had a much better education at Kuwait's public schools than most of us ever had. In fact, he wishes that the curriculum hadn't changed at all! At least Sheikh Sabah made it very clear that the teaching of religion in schools must be limited to basic interpretations of the Qur'an and the Hadith and not follow the agenda of any religious movement or sect. I just wish he enforces that, because we're so sick and tired of tough statements like that not being followed up with concrete action. And the Islamists know that too; they'll just nod in agreement with Sheikh Sabah with the usual حاضر طال عمرك and then go back to business as usual.

Also in today's Al-Qabas, Ali Al-Baghli continues along the same line of thought and calls for the government's media outlets to shake off the suffocating influence of the Islamists, who use Kuwait's TV and radio stations to preach their party agendas every day to the point where the average citizen is led to believe that it is the government's agenda as well.

The next session will be with the Minister of Disinformation. Now that's the one I want to watch! Anyone know when it's on?