The Kuwaiti Cabinet approved late Monday the gradual start of the grades of various public schools as of September 27 in yet another bid to avoid A(H1N1), or swine flu, infection.
Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr. Moudi AlـHomoud briefed a Cabinet meeting on the preparations for the new school year in all grades within the country''s six governorates, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Roudhan AlـRoudhan said in a statement after the government meeting.
AlـHomoud also talked about preparations of clinics in schools and how nurses were trained to deal with any incident in primary schools. AlـHumoud added that highـschools would start on Septeber 27, then middle school and grades four and five would follow on October 4, and finally grades 1ـ3 would begin on October 18.
The gradual start aims at finalizing preparations of clinis and isolation rooms, and provision of cleaning materials and sterilizers inside schools.
It also aims at making sure that teachers and nurses are ready to deal with any swine flu case, said AlـHomoud, in a drive to safeguard safety of pupils.
The Minister said the gradual start would only apply on public schools, as private schools have already started this month because they were linked with programs from educational institutions abroad.
AlـHomoud said start of study in colleges and Kuwait University would not change.
Meanwhile, Minister AlـRoudhan said Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Dr. Fadhil Safar and Director General of the Environment Public Authority (EPA) Dr. Salah AlـMudhhi briefed the Cabinet about a report by experts from the U.S. Army who assured the government''s sound measures to addressing malfunction in Mishref Sewage treatment station.
AlـRoudhan also said the Cabinet reviewed another report which indicated improvement of environment resulted from diminishing concentrations of biological and chemical pollutants caused by the malfunction in the Mishref station.
The report also noted that air pollution did not exist and that drinking water produced by AlـShuaiba station was clean, he added.
His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser AlـMohammad AlـAhmad AlـSabah, who chaired the Cabinet meeting, instructed a special commission probing the incident in Mishref to identify who was responsible behind the malfunction ahead of prosecution, said AlـRoudhan.
The Cabinet, on the other hand, assigned the General Census Department to prepare for a general census for people, buildings and houses in 2012.
The Cabinet, said AlـRoudhan, blessed an action plan by the World Bank (WB) about the present and future prospects of economic sectors in next five years

Alwatan Daily