Palestinian teachers will return to work in Kuwait again for the first time since the Iraqi invasion in 1990.
Kuwait had placed a ban on Palestinian teachers in 1990 in the wake of a deep Kuwaiti-Palestinian rift following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain, which was supported by Palestinian leaders.
However, bilateral relations started to improve in December 2004 when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas apologised for the Palestinian position on Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
Relations have since evolved and Kuwait repeatedly announced multimillion dollar donations for development projects in Palestine.
In April 2016, Kuwait’s education ministry said that it would be recruiting hundreds of Palestinians to teach mathematics and science in its schools. The teachers will be hired from Palestine or locally from the Palestinian community in Kuwait, it added.
The Ministry of Education has since recruited 105 math and science teachers, 19 of whom have already arrived in Kuwait.
The teachers said they were looking forward to “renewing the educational achievements accomplished by their predecessors who taught generations of Kuwaitis.”
The government of Kuwait agreed to re-hire Palestinian teachers after many of them left the country during Iraq's 1990-91 invasion and occupation of Kuwait.
Undersecretary Dr. Haitham Al-Athari said that the Palestinians would fill vacancies and work alongside Kuwaiti and Arab teachers.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met the recruited teachers and urged them put all efforts into performing their jobs efficiently.