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Kuwait: Teachers to undergo training on swine flu prevention

KUWAIT: In the midst of the turmoil regarding the delay of the start of the school year, information revealed that thousands of teachers will start the school year after enrolling in training courses provided by the Ministry of Health . In the mean time, a number of members of the Parents of Students at English Schools group have protested the fact that English schools won't be included in any postponement decision, indicating that they will not be sending their kids to school if these schools remain out of
any postponement plans.

Teachers at the training courses will be trained with taking precautionary measures from the threat of infection of the swine flu virus. They will also be trained to detect any cases of infection among students and ways of handling the situation.

Furthermore, the sources added that the Ministry of Education has provided each school with qualified teachers who will be forming emergency teams that will supervise any potential evacuation operations or any other escalation pertaining to the infection threat. These teams will be coordinating directly with the medical centers of their respective areas in order to control any infection cases before sending them to the center for prompt treatment.

Undersecretary Assistant for Technical Affairs at the Ministry of Health , Dr. Khalid Al-Sahlawi, said that all preparations have been put into place for the start of these training courses. In addition, he also revealed new recommendations regarding any potential infection cases, for a member of the family of any infected child under 12 years of age to be given a 7-day leave in order to tend to the patient. He also pointed out that any infection case within medical staffs will immediately be given a leave and be provided with necessary medication.

Meanwhile, MP Dr. Faisal Al-Muslim announced that the development and reform bloc will be holding a press conference in order to reveal the reasons behind their calls for holding an emergency session regarding the swine flu threat. In addition, MP Musallam Al-Barrak upheld the importance of holding this emergency session to discuss the preparations and the precautionary procedures taken against the infection threat while he also criticized calls that object to holding the session, Al-Rai reported.

In another issue, tensions surrounding the swine flu ordeal have escalated from the parliament and Cabinet as tensions are rising between MPs who urged for the emergency session to be held and those who object it.

In that regard, Al-Muslim said that the Ministers of Health and Education, Hilal Al-Sayer and Moudhi Al-Homoud, have not objected to the idea of holding the session, adding that they will be exposing during the press conference the attempts that work towards aborting the session.

The parliamentary health committee is expected to meet on Tuesday with the participation of Al-Sayer and Al-Homoud to discuss the preparations against the swine flu threat.

Meanwhile, sources from the Cabinet expressed their resentment regarding the tensions currently occurring at the parliamentary level, which block the way for any potential cooperation with the Cabinet against the crisis. The sources also stated that the disease is a global pandemic and that the Ministry of Health is currently following the international procedures in facing the infection threat.

In addition, a source from the Ministry of Education said that the Cabinet will most likely announce that the school year not be postponed for the elementary, intermediate and secondary stages and the delay only be applied to kindergarten levels and special needs school. He added that the shortage of school days resulting from any potential postponement decision will be compensated by cancelling spring break in addition to limiting weekends to Fridays only, Al-Qabas reported.

In that regard, Annahar reported that they have received information that indicated the Ministry of Education was currently studying the possibility of postponing the start of the school year for all educational stages until January 10, 2010, with a plan to merge the two terms into one term. Such a plan, if adopted, would be expected to be made in order to allow for the Ministry of Health to provide the necessary vaccines and would only be applicable to students while teaching staffs and administrators would be exempted.

In response to these statements, interim undersecretary assistant for the public education at the Ministry of Education , Muna Al-Lughani, rejected the plans, adding that they are currently preparing to start the school year at the designated time unless they receive a decision from the Cabinet that tells them otherwise.

© Kuwait Times 2009