Abstract
The Katateeb al-Bidoon initiative was an after-school teach-in combined with a series of government protests against the sudden expulsion of stateless Bidoon children from any official Kuwait school. Considered illegal residents, the Bidoon status in Kuwait has deteriorated over the past generation, and their exclusion from Kuwait society is nearly complete. Regardless, many educational activists and teachers still continue to support Bidoon access to education, and the Katateeb al-Bidoon initiative is one example of their work. The name Katateeb refers to the archaic casual school system that was prevalent in Kuwait before the era of oil urbanization. Though its lifespan was one brief semester, from October 2014 to February 2015, a close examination of the initiative provides insight into how an improvised pedagogy based on an educational model from the past can develop beyond expectations and support a transformative future.
Highlights
Introduction and BackgroundThe Katateeb al-Bidoon initiative was launched in October 2014 to raise awareness of the struggle for access to education experienced by the stateless Bidoon children of Kuwait
Teachers and activists who supported this action placed it in the context of the global effort to achieve universal education (Azouz, 2013), citing the UN Convention for the Rights of The Child, emphasizing the key articles 28 and 42 (United Nations, 1989), which is the basis for the United Nations Millennial Development Goals of equal access to education for all children, regardless of status (United Nations, 2015)
In the future aspired to by initiatives such as the Millennial Development Goals and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees Ending Statelessness Initiative (UNHCR, 2014), statelessness will no longer be an impediment to education
Summary
The Katateeb al-Bidoon initiative was launched in October 2014 to raise awareness of the struggle for access to education experienced by the stateless Bidoon children of Kuwait. Known as the Central Agency for Illegal Residents (CAIR), this administrative branch of the Kuwaiti government oversees and manages all aspects of the Bidoon relationship to the state, including the distribution of benefits to those Bidoon who choose to accept support These benefits ostensibly include proper legal documentation such as birth certificates for Bidoon children and tuition assistance for those who enroll in the separate system of Arabic private schools. Along with a general reluctance to interact with the Central Agency, which has a reputation for rough treatment of the Bidoon, parents are not willing to apply for the necessary documents for their newborns out of a concern that it may require them to sign away any claim they may have as Kuwaitis Due to this situation, many Bidoon children have had to make do with a record of live birth—obtained from the hospital where the child was born—which would have no value but for its acceptance by the Arabic private schools as sufficient identification for enrollment. Throughout, government officials insisted that there was nothing extraordinary about the documentation required for Bidoon children to attend Arabic private schools, and in the end many Bidoon parents either capitulated to the requirements if they could or stopped trying to enroll their children in school
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