Around 30% Filipino students in Kuwait did not enroll in two years

Around 30% Filipino students in Kuwait did not enroll in two years

By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: Around 30 percent of Filipino students in Kuwait failed to enroll in the last two academic years – 20 percent during 2020-2021 and an additional 10 percent in 2021-2022, Principal Antonio Casupang of Philippines International English School (PIES) in Fahaheel revealed. “Because of the pandemic, many parents decided to enroll their kids for online classes, while some parents decided to send their families back home to the Philippines. So, we had an around 30 percent decline in enrollees last year and this year,” said Casupang.

Kuwait resumed on-campus classes for private and public schools for the 2021-2022 academic year after a 19-month hiatus. The resumption follows putting in place the necessary health precautions to protect students against the risks of the coronavirus, Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Education Dr Abdulmohsen Al-Huwaila said yesterday.

Principal Dr Jesusa V Puno of the New Kuwait Philippines International School (NKPIS) in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh confirmed a similar decline in student numbers. “In our school, an almost same number of students failed to enroll since the onset of pandemic, but at least most students are now back for on-campus classes. The pandemic hurt us a lot, but we cannot blame the parents for their