A/HRC/43/41/Add.1 and professionals offering individual support to children with disabilities, and training regular schoolteachers in mainstream schools on how to support children with disabilities, as was recommended by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2013 (CRC/C/KWT/CO/2, para. 56 (c)). 43. Kuwait has an international obligation to ensure that all children, including those with disabilities, have access to free and compulsory quality basic education, regardless of their nationality or social origin. In 2016/17, the Government allocated 6.5 million Kuwaiti dinars (US$ 21,385,000) to a fund to support non-Kuwaiti students with financial difficulties. The Special Rapporteur expressed concern about the lack of official data on the number of children with disabilities outside the school system. She received information that, as the State does not cover school fees for non-Kuwaiti children with disabilities to attend private schools, apart from a few exceptional cases, they are de facto excluded from compulsory education. This is the case of many stateless Bidoon children with disabilities whose parents lack the financial means to pay the school fees. Only some can rely on private charities to cover the fees. 44. While the Special Rapporteur welcomed the efforts of the Ministry of Higher Education to support access by 297 Kuwaitis with disabilities to higher education in 2018 and 2019 and the provision of 96 scholarships to date to study abroad, she notes that students with disabilities reported barriers to accessing higher education, including at Kuwait University. She hopes that the new university campus that is currently under construction will be fully accessible to the diversity of persons with disabilities. F. Work and employment 45. Chapter four of Law No. 8/2010 regulates the organization of employment and vocational training for persons with disabilities. Article 14 of this Law provides that public, private and oil sector employers with a workforce of at least 50 Kuwaiti employees must recruit a minimum of 4 per cent of Kuwaiti workers with disabilities. The State provides incentives to employers who exceed the minimum quota. The Public Authority for Disabled Affairs, in cooperation with the Public Authority for Manpower, lists companies that violate this provision and can take administrative actions against them. According to the Law, employers are required to make the necessary accommodation and provide a suitable work environment for persons with disabilities, who also enjoy several benefits, such as reduced working hours, extra vacations and early retirement. The Public Authority for Disabled Affairs has also adopted an employment strategy to increase the participation of persons with disabilities in the labour market, and has established a database of persons with disabilities seeking employment. 46. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the initiatives taken by the authorities to improve access to jobs for persons with disabilities. However, she was informed that in 2018, there were only 19 persons with disabilities employed in the private and the oil sectors, and 283 in the public sector. Factors explaining such low numbers include societal views that persons with disabilities should be “cared for” instead of working, the fear of losing the disability pension (see sect. G below), the inability to complete their education, and the lack of an inclusive environment. Non-Kuwaitis with disabilities have even fewer opportunities to enter the labour market, as priority is given to their Kuwaiti peers. Moreover, they are not protected under Law No. 8/2010 and the 4 per cent quota does not apply to them. 47. The participation of persons with disabilities in employment is fundamental for their inclusion in society, to enhance their self-esteem and to transform societal perceptions. The Special Rapporteur urged the Government to enforce the quota on employment and to make more effort to enable the effective inclusion of all persons with disabilities in the workplace, for instance by ensuring that all workers with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodation at all levels of employment, including in recruitment, career development and vocational training. She also encourages the authorities to do more to ensure the promotion of persons with disabilities in their careers, once they have access to employment. 10