Kuwait and OECD Announce Education Reform Ahead of PISA 2029

Kuwait’s Ministry of Education has signed a cooperation agreement with the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD) to conduct a comprehensive study of the country’s education system, reform national curricula and prepare Kuwait for participation in upcoming PISA cycles — including targeted support for PISA 2029 — while the OECD will also assist with teacher licensing design, capacity building, and evaluation of reform outcomes.

Background​

Kuwait has moved rapidly in 2025 to signal a large-scale overhaul of its education system, driven by central directives from the Ministry of Education under Minister Eng. Sayed Jalal Al‑Tabtabaei. The ministry’s public statements and press coverage over the first half of 2025 show an integrated reform agenda: curriculum redesign (particularly for mathematics, science and English), institutional restructuring, stronger accountability, and international benchmarking through cooperation with global organizations such as the OECD.
At the center of the new partnership is an OECD-led diagnostic and advisory role: performing a comprehensive study of current curricula and system performance, recommending a national curriculum reform strategy, running knowledge‑sharing workshops, training educational cadres, and helping to prepare students and systems for internationally comparable assessments such as PISA. The Ministry has stated the intent to form a national working group and to implement reform steps over a defined timetable, with some elements scoped to a six‑to‑nine month development window.

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What the OECD–Kuwait agreement covers​

Scope and deliverables​

• A comprehensive study of Kuwait’s education system and newly developed curricula, with a formal OECD evaluation report and recommendations for reform.
• Development of a national curriculum reform strategy for public schools, with an emphasis on mathematics, science and English benchmarks.
• Capacity building: training teachers, supervisors and ministry officials through workshops and joint expert sessions.
• Teacher licensing support: assistance in designing and implementing teacher licensing tests to raise professional standards.
• PISA participation support: technical and implementation support to prepare Kuwait for the international PISA assessments — with a specific mention of support targeted to PISA 2029.

These elements are consistent with OECD advisory work in other jurisdictions, where the organisation offers both review missions and technical assistance that combine evidence‑based diagnostics with policy options and capacity building.

National working group and timeline​

Kuwait’s ministry is assembling a specialized national working group — drawing on subject supervisors, curriculum directors and other senior staff — to coordinate the reform activities with OECD experts. Public reporting suggests that a six‑to‑nine month period was envisaged for the core curriculum reform strategy development phase, followed by teacher preparation and assessment readiness work.

PISA 2029: what it means for Kuwait​

PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) is run by the OECD and evaluates 15‑year‑old students’ ability to apply knowledge in reading, mathematics and science; PISA cycles also include an innovative domain in each round. The OECD has confirmed that PISA 2029 will emphasize reading and include an innovative domain focused on Media and Artificial Intelligence Literacy, reflecting global shifts in digital literacy requirements. Countries interested in joining PISA 2029 can apply now; participation involves base costs and implementation commitments that span multiple years.

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Why this matters: potential gains for Kuwait​

1) International benchmarking and objective diagnostics​

OECD reviews and PISA participation give Kuwait independent, internationally comparable data about student outcomes and system performance. Robust external diagnostics can help pinpoint systemic weaknesses (curriculum alignment, teacher preparedness, equity gaps) and provide policy‑level benchmarks for improvement. The OECD’s experience advising other countries means Kuwait can access tested reform models and practical roadmaps for implementation.

2) Curriculum modernization with a 21st‑century focus​

The stated reform emphasizes aligning Kuwait’s curricula in mathematics, science and English with international standards, and integrating competencies suited to the digital era. If executed well, this could reduce curriculum overload, strengthen cross‑disciplinary skills and orient teaching toward higher‑order thinking and problem solving. Early ministry communications explicitly reference benchmarking against high‑performing systems and the inclusion of modern competencies.

3) Professionalization of teaching through licensing and training​

Designing teacher licensing tests and rolling out systematic professional development can raise instructional quality. Licensing, when combined with continuous in‑service training, teacher career pathways, and classroom support, is a proven lever to improve outcomes — provided it is implemented fairly, transparently and with adequate capacity building. Kuwait’s plan to design these assessments with OECD support signals ambition in this direction.

4) Data‑driven policy and evaluation​

The OECD’s role includes helping Kuwait evaluate reform impact using future test results. The integration of diagnostic study, implementation support, and later evaluation creates a cycle of evidence‑based policy making that — if the feedback loop is followed — can institutionalize continuous improvement rather than episodic reforms.

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Risks, constraints and governance challenges​

No reform of this scale is straightforward. The pact with the OECD is promising, but Kuwait faces several practical and political risks that could blunt its effectiveness.

Governance and implementation capacity​

Kuwait’s education system is large and administratively complex. Ensuring consistent implementation across all governorates, school types and teacher cohorts requires robust project management, clear mandates and decentralized capacity. Past ministry actions (including high‑profile referrals of corruption cases and administrative restructuring) signal both a will to reform and the existence of governance challenges that must be actively managed during reform execution.

Timing and sequencing​

International benchmarking, curriculum redesign, teacher licensing, and PISA preparation are interdependent. Premature participation in an international assessment without adequate readiness risks producing disappointing scores that become politically salient rather than diagnostically useful. OECD guidance for PISA participation shows there are base costs and multi‑year preparations; careful sequencing is essential.

Financial and logistical costs​

Joining PISA and implementing OECD‑recommended reforms have real costs: the OECD’s publicly available PISA participation brochure lists base international overheads for new participants (a non‑trivial multi‑year fee), plus substantial domestic resource needs for sampling, translation/adaptation, training, and data collection logistics. These costs must be budgeted alongside national reforms such as textbook redevelopment and teacher training programs. Failure to plan and fund these elements sufficiently could undermine both the PISA participation and the broader reform agenda.

Cultural fit and curriculum identity​

Curriculum reform always involves balancing global best practice with national identity and values. The ministry’s stated aim to align curricula with global standards while maintaining national values will require careful content design and stakeholder engagement. Overly technocratic or externally framed reforms can provoke resistance from teachers, parents or political actors if local contexts are insufficiently considered.

Data sovereignty, privacy and assessment integrity​

As Kuwait prepares to administer large‑scale digital assessments (PISA has been computer‑based for years), the ministry must ensure robust data protection, secure test delivery and transparency in sampling and reporting. Any perceived weakness in assessment integrity can reduce the usefulness of results and public trust in the reform process. OECD implementation support can mitigate these problems, but domestic systems must be ready to adopt secure protocols.

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Reality check: what is confirmed, what remains to be verified​

• Confirmed: Kuwait’s Ministry of Education announced formal cooperation with the OECD to study and reform the national curricula and prepare for PISA participation; the ministry has publicly described OECD support for curriculum benchmarking, teacher licensing design, and preparation for PISA cycles.
• Confirmed: PISA is run by the OECD; PISA 2029 is designated as the 10th edition with a reading focus and an innovative domain on Media and Artificial Intelligence Literacy. Countries can apply to join PISA 2029 and must meet participation and financial requirements.
• Partially verified: Ministry statements and local press provide timelines (six‑to‑nine months for key planning phases) and national working group details. These are ministry assertions and represent planned timing rather than independently validated outputs. Implementation milestones should be treated as targets until progress is independently audited.
• Flagged / cautionary: Some media reports and secondary summaries have quoted milestone completion percentages (for instance claims that the reform reached “60%” completion). These figures appear to derive from ministry briefings or secondary aggregators and are not corroborated by independently audited progress reports. Treat such progress metrics as provisional and seek formal ministry status updates or third‑party monitoring for verification.

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Practical challenges: classroom to national policy​

Transforming curricula on paper into improved student learning requires action across multiple dimensions:

• Curriculum design alone is not enough. Students need effective teachers, aligned assessments, textbooks and classroom resources, and time for teachers to adapt. This implies simultaneous workstreams in professional development, resource procurement and timetable adjustments.
• Teacher licensing is sensitive. Licensing tests must be fair, contextually relevant, and paired with pathways that support teachers who don’t immediately meet new standards (remediation, re‑training, mentorship). If licensing is punitive without support, it risks exacerbating shortages.
• Textbook and materials revision is a major logistical task. Producing, approving and distributing new textbooks for thousands of schools on a tight timetable requires clear procurement pipelines and quality control mechanisms.
• Assessment readiness requires sampling design, logistics planning, IT infrastructure and trained local project managers. OECD offers technical support, but domestic capacity must be scaled for large national samples.

These operational requirements must be funded and stewarded over multiple years to realize the intended outcomes.

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Recommendations: how Kuwait can turn the OECD pact into tangible progress​

• Establish an independent implementation secretariat that reports publicly on milestones and expenditures. This office should coordinate the national working group, manage OECD liaison, and publish quarterly progress updates to build transparency and public trust.
• Sequence reforms: begin with curriculum alignment, teacher professional development pilots, and a well‑resourced national PISA readiness pilot before full international participation. Use pilot results to iterate and refine reforms.
• Design teacher licensing as a developmental pathway: combine diagnostic assessments with funded professional development, mentorship and clear career incentives for those who meet standards.
• Secure multi‑year funding and cost transparency for PISA participation and domestic implementation. Include contingency budgets for IT, translation/adaptation and sample administration.
• Invest in data protection and secure testing infrastructure now, with independent audits of assessment integrity and privacy compliance.
• Run extensive stakeholder engagement (teachers’ unions, parent associations, university teacher‑training departments, and curriculum scholars) to ensure reforms reflect local contexts and values.
• Commission external, independent evaluation of early reform phases (for example, an independent education research institute) to validate ministry claims and provide corrective recommendations.

Implementing these steps will lower the risk that reform becomes a series of headline announcements rather than systemic change.

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What success will look like​

Success should be measured by medium‑term educational outcomes, not by the speed of announcements:

• Teachers demonstrating improved instructional practice in classrooms (observed through validated classroom observation tools).
• Curricula that are coherent across grades, reduce content overload, and emphasize applied problem solving.
• A credible, transparent teacher licensing system tied to professional supports.
• Meaningful baseline data from PISA and national assessments that allow Kuwait to trace gains and target interventions for underperforming groups.
• Evidence of improved equity (reduced gaps between regions, socio‑economic groups and genders) and better alignment between schooling and labor market competencies.

The OECD partnership can provide frameworks and tools to measure these outcomes — but real success requires Kuwait to embed measurement, accountability and continuous learning into the ministry’s operations.

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Contextual political considerations​

Kuwait’s reform drive is occurring alongside political and administrative actions within the ministry, including active measures against alleged administrative corruption and a reorganization of ministry leadership in 2025. These governance reforms could either accelerate implementation by removing bottlenecks and instilling accountability, or they could introduce short‑term instability if institutional capacity is unsettled. Transparent reporting and legally robust procurement and oversight mechanisms will be essential to ensure reform funds and contracts — including those tied to OECD work — are managed with public confidence.

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Final assessment​

The OECD–Kuwait cooperation agreement is an important and pragmatic step: it links Kuwait’s ambitious domestic reform agenda to internationally recognized diagnostic tools, policy expertise and technical assistance. The OECD brings credibility, technical know‑how and experience in administering PISA and advising governments on curriculum, assessment and teacher quality.
However, the pact is not a silver bullet. Kuwait’s success will depend on disciplined sequencing, honest measurement, transparent governance, and sustained investment in both human capacity and infrastructure. The greatest risk is that reforms remain concentrated in planning documents and high‑visibility agreements without the patient work of teacher support, resource distribution and rigorous monitoring that turns policy into improved learning for every student.
If Kuwait maintains strong project governance, budgets the full cost of implementation (including PISA participation and domestic readiness), and treats teacher professionalization as a central pillar rather than an afterthought, the OECD partnership could meaningfully accelerate a multi‑year transformation in the quality and international comparability of Kuwaiti education. The coming 12–36 months will be telling: implementation milestones, pilot results and early assessment readiness checks will indicate whether the partnership becomes the foundation for measurable, equitable improvement — or another unfulfilled promise of reform.

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Quick reference: essential facts at a glance​

• Agreement: Kuwait Ministry of Education — OECD cooperation on curriculum reform, teacher licensing, capacity building and PISA preparation.
• Minister: Eng. Sayed Jalal Al‑Tabtabaei (Ministry leadership driving reform agenda).
• PISA 2029: 10th PISA cycle, reading focus with a new Media & AI Literacy domain; countries can apply to participate and face multi‑year commitments and costs.
• Primary risks: implementation capacity, financing, sequencing, integrity and local adaptation of curricula.

The OECD partnership gives Kuwait access to a proven toolkit for diagnostics and policy advice; turning that toolkit into higher student learning will require sustained political will, transparent budgets, strong project management and a concentrated focus on teachers and classrooms.

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Source: Times Kuwait Kuwait, OECD sign pact to develop education system and reform national curricula - Times Kuwait