Policy and the Future of Education in Kuwait

The LSE Middle East Centre hosted a Kuwait Programme panel discussion highlighting recent education policy issues and trajectories in Kuwait and globally, with a focus on the role of policy in shaping current and future priorities of education. The panel discussed Kuwait’s policy challenges and changes in the broader context of global education policies and the neoliberal order. The panel also focused on the recent geopolitical crisis in the Gulf and the response of Kuwait’s education system. Meet our speakers Dr. Fatimah Alhashem is an assistant professor at the Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST). and chair for the Center of Teaching, Learning, and Research (CTLR) from 2018 till 2021. She received a doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction in science education from Arizona State University. She worked as general manager for the teacher development department at the National Center for Education Development (NCED) from 2015 until 2018. She is a strong advocate for supporting teachers in general and supporting women in science education in specific. She is involved in different projects that serve the education system mainly clustered around teachers’ development. She led many educational projects as a consultant in (UNDP, UNESCO & KFAS). Ibrahim Alhouti (PhD) is an Assistant Professor of the comparative politics of education at Kuwait University and a non-resident fellow at Gulf International Forum in Washington, DC. He obtained his PhD from University College London's Institute of Education, where his thesis explored the politics of reforming the education system in the Arab Gulf region, and holds two master’s degrees on Leadership and Comparative Education, both from University College London's Institute of Education. He also serves as a consultant for a number of educational institutions in the Gulf. Alhouti has published several research studies about education and education reforms in the region. His research interest encompasses the politics of education, education reforms, comparative education, and education policies. Dr. Sonia Exley is an Associate Professor in the LSE Department of Social Policy. She is Programme Director for the MSc in International Social and Public Policy, and teaches on a range of postgraduate and undergraduate courses. Sonia’s specialist area of research is education policy. She has a particular interest in the marketisation and privatisation of education systems across the world. Sonia has published in a wide range of education and social policy journals. She holds a DPhil in Social Policy from Oxford University (Nuffield College). Prior to joining LSE, she was a British Academy postdoctoral fellow at the (now UCL) Institute of Education in London. Meet our chair Dr Nidal Al Haj Sleiman is the Kuwait Research Officer at the LSE Middle East Centre. She is a sociologist of education policy, leadership and international education. Her work generally draws on theories of policy sociology, social and cultural justice, critical pedagogy and transformative learning, particularly in West Asia: Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon and Palestine. Her publications broadly address interconnection of policy, leadership and society, the sociology of international education, the political economy of education, post-colonial and settler-colonial theory in education. Nidal is also a co-founder of the SWANA Forum for Social Justice, a UCL alumni- and student-led community. Prior to her research career, Nidal worked as teacher and a school leader in Lebanon and Qatar, in public and international education settings.