Kuwait schools ban cash, gifts and unapproved events now

Starting this week, nobody at a Kuwait public school – not a teacher, not an administrator, not a parent, not a student – can collect cash, gifts or donations inside school premises, under any excuse.

The Ministry of Education published a full set of conduct rules on Monday, covering money, canteens, events, photography and staff behaviour. If you’re a parent, a teacher or you work in a school canteen, this changes what you can do starting now. It follows closely behind 20 other new school rules announced this week on money, photos and social media, so schools are clearly under a tighter watch this term.

Who exactly does this apply to?

The rules name four groups directly: teachers, administrative staff, students, and parents. That’s basically everyone connected to a school. The ban on collecting money covers school trips, class gifts, teacher appreciation funds, fundraising for events, or anything described as a donation – the ministry said the purpose doesn’t matter, it’s still not allowed.

Selling or promoting goods and services inside a school is also banned, as is using your job title or school facilities for personal or financial gain. Every purchase, contract, payment or collection now has to go through the school’s official procedures, not informal arrangements between staff and parents.

Steps schools and parents need to follow now

1. Stop any ongoing collection of cash, gifts or donations inside the school immediately, no matter who started it or why.
2. Route all purchases, contracts and payments through the school’s official channels, not direct handovers of cash.
3. Before bringing in outside food or drinks for any event, check it comes from an approved source and follows Ministry of Health Decision No. 15/2025 on school canteens.
4. Before planning any event, celebration or activity involving outside people or organisations, get written approval from the relevant authority first.
5. Make sure any event fits a clear educational purpose and is already part of the school’s approved plan, not a last-minute add-on.
6. Get written consent before photographing or recording students, and never share those images through personal accounts or private group chats.
7. Never use the school’s name or the Ministry of Education’s logo on printed material, adverts or promotions without official approval.
8. If you spot a canteen violation, report it so the school can notify the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition (PAFN) inspector.

What about school canteens specifically?

Canteens can’t operate or sell products that don’t meet approved health standards. Food distributed at school events is only allowed if it follows the Ministry of Health’s canteen rules and the source, safety, storage and hygiene are all verified first.

School administrations now have to check canteen operations every day and write up any violations in official reports. Each school must also name one team member whose job is to flag canteen violations to the PAFN inspector during checks. This comes not long after a Farwaniya raid found nearly 99kg of bad food, so food safety in schools has clearly been on the ministry’s radar for a while.

If a canteen contractor breaks the rules, they must be formally warned in writing and given at least three working days to fix the problem. If they don’t, their contract gets terminated – no extensions mentioned.

Photography, social media and school secrets

Staff can’t use their job to discuss school matters on social media, including photographing the workplace or colleagues and posting it. Photographing or recording students, or publishing their photos or personal details, needs written consent under the approved rules – and that includes sharing in private WhatsApp or messaging groups, not just public posts.

Student photos can’t be linked to their personal information or used for anything outside education. Leaking school data, documents or information about students, parents or staff is banned too, and so is asking for information that has nothing to do with your actual work.

Nobody can issue statements, publish news, or use the ministry’s or a school’s logo in adverts or on personal pages without official authorisation. Posting rumours, false information, or anything offensive about the ministry, schools, students or staff is also against the rules now, whether on social media or elsewhere. This builds on the ministry’s recent move to limit photos of children at school events, a concern that’s come up more than once this term.

What this means if you’re a parent or staff member in Kuwait

For parents, the clearest change is that informal class collections – for a teacher’s gift, a trip, or a celebration – are no longer allowed, even with good intentions. If your child’s school asks for cash outside official channels, that’s now against the rules.

For teachers and administrators, the message is about process: get approval in writing before organising anything, follow official payment channels, and be careful about what you photograph or post. The ministry made clear it expects staff to act as role models, treating students with respect and avoiding behaviour that could harm the profession’s reputation.

The ministry also reminded staff to stick to official working hours, protect school property, and avoid using phones for anything unrelated to teaching during lessons, as long as it doesn’t disrupt the class. You can find more local news in Kuwait on how these education changes are rolling out.

What happens if a school breaks these rules?

Organising any event without approval counts as an administrative violation. It gets referred straight to the Legal Affairs Department for investigation, and disciplinary penalties follow from there. The ministry said there will be no leniency for conduct that breaks these rules or falls outside proper professional standards, and that it will take legal and administrative measures against every violation.

This fits a pattern we’ve seen this term, including a new 3-day suspension rule for smoking in schools and evening clubs reopening under tighter oversight from 8 November. Schools are clearly being asked to tighten things up across the board this year.

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