KUWAIT: Never had 28-year-old Ahlam thought she would regret her decision to drop out of high school over ten years ago. When she made the decision, she insisted that it was the right thing to do given the circumstances. She wanted to get married and she wanted to have kids and indeed her dream came true. "The life of a housewife is not at all a luxury nowadays," she says. With marriage came demands and the more children she had the more complicated things became. The constant demand for money and the humble salary her husband made convinced her to ask for a divorce. A Ministry of Education official told the Kuwait Times that the number of students, especially females, going back to school after dropping out is on the rise.

This can especially be noted in the Mubarak Al-Kabeer educational area. It is a new trend in our society," he noted. The source added that "the performance of these students is quite good, sometimes it even supersedes that of younger students," he noted. The reasons behind this growing trend is simple. The official said that many students during their time in high school drop out and start their career life right away.

The government grants jobs to all its citizens and because finishing high school is not mandatory, it is easy - even tempting - to make that decision," he said. The current situation in the career world is difficult and this is slowly building a trend of older students finishing their high school diplomas and applying to various university programs in the country. "It seems to be snowballing. I personally hope that this results in a generation of educated Kuwaitis," he said.

Ahlam, mother of three boys, married at the age of 17 and divorced at 26 is taking evening classes to obtain her high school diploma. "It is crucial to have a degree nowadays, whatever the cost is," she said. I have a job during the day and go to school in the evening. I have three kids to take care of but I won't let this stop me from getting a degree,".

Her grade for the past year has remained above 90 percent and she hopes to enroll in a university program that will secure her a better-paying job. "It is no longer a world where you can depend on anyone to support you. I made a mistake and I am working to fix that," she says.

Abdulkareem, a 31-year-old, dropped out of high school when he was 18 and graduated at the end of this past school year. With excellent grades he was able to secure himself a seat at one of Kuwait's private universities to study mass communication. "I have always wanted to get a better income but circumstances stopped me from doing so," he said. "I got several diplomas in English and computer services from private institutes but without a high school diploma it was all useless.

It is not at all difficult to go back to school, Abdulkareem explained. "My colleagues are encouraging at work, and even the students and teachers are supportive. I wasted quite some time trying to find shortcuts and avoiding school but I guess it is inevitable. I'm happy I made this choice. I think it is going to make a big impact, I can already feel it," he said. - Kuwait Times