KUWAIT: The parliamentary legislative committee has approved a proposal to impose gender segregation in public schools, while rejecting another proposal to leave the choice on this matter in universities to individual universities' administrative bodies. The owners of a number of private schools in Kuwait have already expressed their displeasure with the committee's recommendation for schools.

Jassem Al-Saddah, the owner of the English School in Kuwait, told the Kuwait Times that the Union of Private Schools would not accept the new measure or any similar decisions since they would have an adverse effect on many generations and have a deleterious effect on students themselves.

This decision is not accepted, either at the educational or at the social level," he asserted, insisting that the committee's recommendation does not take into account the reality of school life. Al-Saddah further criticized the committee's decision, saying that although the move is at present simply a proposal, it will now be passed to the education committee for consideration.

The school head said that at a time when KSA is developing in this regard, allowing coeducational classes at King Abdullah University and moving towards taking serious steps to get rid of such "unacceptable" measures, it is extremely unfortunate that Kuwait is apparently moving backwards in its approach to such issues.

He revealed that the Union of Private Schools' members intend to utilize every means to oppose the introduction of such segregation in education, stressing his faith in the parliamentary education committee's members ability to prevent such retrograde legislation from coming into effect. The introduction of any such system would hurt society and show negative intentions, he said, especially since Kuwait's private education system is strong, with a firm moral basis and students enjoy a healthy environment a
nd are taught good manners and behavior.

Mrs. Malayorka the principal of Salwa's Electronic Smart School, also rejected the idea of single sex education, saying that it does not help in developing students' personalities and leads to subsequent problems in their ability to socialize and work with colleagues of the opposite sex at university or in the workplace.

I do not see anything wrong with mixed classes and I totally disagree with segregation" she told the Kuwait Times. She added that the students at her school come from a diverse range of ethnicities, but said that most of her current students are Christian and have no problem with mixing with people of the opposite sex, with their parents happy that their classes are coeducational since this helps their children to develop better and learn about working with others.

The issue of whether or not the proposal will advance further has yet to be decided, with other parliamentary committees yet to study it. Yet a number of people are echoing Jassem Al-Saddah's frustration at Kuwait's apparent wish to swim against the coeducational current at a time when even its famously conservative neighbor Saudi Arabia is taking major steps towards mixed-sex education. - Kuwait Times