Kuwait’s Ministry of Education has been left red faced after it included the names of deceased and retired staff in a list of people eligible for promotion, it was reported.
A source was quoted as saying the Minister of Education and Higher Education Ahmad Al Mulaifi had asked for the list to be compiled by the Administrative Affairs Department before the end of March.
However, the Arab Times newspaper reported that after the head of the relevant department went on sudden leave the Minister Health Dr Ali Al Obaidi, who was stepping in, signed the decision when the list was not fully ready. It said the situation was further complicated when the director of human resources also went on holiday.
About 7,000 employees were identified as qualifying for a promotion, though it is unclear how many were later identified as deceased or retired.
“There were speculations the director may have travelled to avoid compiling the list and the matter paved way for the scandalous error,” one source quoted by the newspaper said.
He said it was not the first time the director had gone on leave during such a list, apparently taking leave when a list of employees who had served for over 35 years was being compiled.
However, he reportedly said the Service Department was also to blame after it had failed to remove the names of the retired employees on the pretext that the Civil Service Commission did not delete those names.
The situation is said to have created frustration across several departments.