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KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Authorities at Kuwait University have told the emirate's cabinet that $130 million more are needed to fully implement a controversial law banning coeducation, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. The state-run university said it has implemented a "considerable portion" of the legislation stipulating that strict gender segregation must be enforced by July 2001, Al-Qabas said. The bill, passed in 1996 by a strong Islamic-tribal alliance in parliament, gave the government five years "to develop existing buildings... to guarantee that male and female students do not mix on campus." A number of conservative MPs had threatened to question liberal Education Minister Yussef al-Ibrahim if he failed to implement the law. Kuwait University is the only university in the emirate and offers free education to some 20,000 students. It receives its annual budget of some $350 million from the government. Earlier this year, parliament voted to allow the establishment of private universities and the opening of branches for foreign universities, but insisted these too must apply full segregation. A report presented by the university to the cabinet said that it had already achieved segregation of the sexes in lecture halls, libraries, cafeterias, and admission halls and extra-curricula activities. Kuwait remains a religiously conservative country, where alcohol and discos are banned. But there is almost no restriction on personal freedom or dress and Kuwaiti women can often be seen wearing the latest revealing western-style fashion. In July 1997, the information ministry banned all public music concerts or shows that contravene Sharia law and Kuwaiti traditions, in line with parliamentary recommendations. |
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