Sheikh Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah led cultural, educational scene in Kuwait - Info. Min.

KUWAIT, April 12 (KUNA) -- The late Sheikh Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah had led educational, cultural and enlightenment renaissance in Kuwait, Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah has said.
Sheikh Salman, also chairman of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL), made the statement at a ceremony held on Sunday to celebrate a UNESCO honoring of the late Sheikh Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as an international personality of educational and cultural achievements.
Today's event was held by the Kuwait National Library in cooperation with the Historic Documentation Center and the Amiri Diwan Libraries.
Knowledge, cultural and intellectual development of the Kuwaiti people is a priority of the country's political leadership, topped with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, the minister noted.
Sheikh Abdullah had established educational edifices, developed curricula and brought Arab teachers to Kuwait, in addition to sending Kuwaiti students to study overseas, and to benefit their country in all fields, he said.
He added that the UNESCO choice has been based on sincere national efforts through a farsighted vision that foresaw the momentousness of education and culture to plan for Kuwait's present and future.
Opening public libraries, enriching school activities, bringing the first antiquity excavation mission, opening the first national museums and making arrangements for establishing the first university in Kuwait are but few of Sheikh Abdullah's achievements, the minister said.
Addressing the ceremony, Kuwait's Minister of Education and Higher Education Bader Al-Essa, expressed pleasure for the UNESCO honoring of Sheikh Abdullah who played a leading role in the educational and cultural history of Kuwait since the inception of compulsory education in the country.
Al-Essa, also head of Kuwait National Commission for UNESCO, highlighted the education pioneer's copious 30-decade cultural march.
"Today we recall Sheikh Abdullah, a witness of Kuwait's history who was involved in all its events, one who offered all he had to serve his country," head of Historic Documentation Center and the Amiri Diwan Libraries Sheikha Mona Al-Jaber Al-Abdallah Al-Sabah told the event.
"We are celebrating the 50th anniversary since Sheikh Abdullah, Kuwait's first minister of education after independence, let a new generation bear the responsibility of education in Kuwait after he served it for 30 years," she said Last November, His Highness the Amir sponsored and attended a ceremony organized by the Amiri Diwan in honor of the UNESCO choice of Sheikh Abdullah. (end) mdm.tb.msa