The Social Development Health care has been a priority of the Kuwaiti government's agenda. By the end of 195, the number of government hospitals rose to 16, well-equipped with the latest health services and equipment, along with 71 health centers, 75 clinics specialised in dentistry and diabetes, 86 maternity and child care centers, and 55 preventive medicine centers. In addition to these facilities a vibrant private medical sector exists. These health establishments employ 15,404 physicians, pharmacists and nursing staff. State-of-the-art government hospitals have over 4400 beds. Education represents the cornerstone of comprehensive development as it deals with the human resource. The government is firmly committed to providing a place for every citizen at each educational level, and education is obligatory from 6 to 14 years old. General education level consists of elementary, intermediate and secondary levels with 861 schools and institutions in 1995, out of which 586 were governmental, accommodating 280,709 students, with an approximately 50:50 sex ratio. Private schools had (113,857) students of whom 52,991 were female. Kuwait University offers a broad range of academic courses in the humanities as well as scientific asn social specialisations. In the 1995-1996 academic year there were 16,691 students registered, out of which 15,163 were Kuwaitis and 906 were from other Arab Gulf countries. There were 845 teaching staff from different Arab and foreign countries. General and university educational establishments are complemented by applied education facilities which prepare specialised personnel in a variety of fields including technology, education, commercial, health studies, communications, surveying, electricity and water technologies, industrial training and nursing. The total of registered students in these institutes and training courses in 1995-1996 reached 4355 out of whom 4248 were Kuwaitis. Adult Education and Illiteracy Eradication Centers provide courses for adults, illiterate, paralyzed and handicapped people. By 1995-1990 there were 67 centers with 377 classes with 13,200 students and 1293 teachers. The Kuwaiti government has paid special attention to promotion of youth skills and talents. To this end, eight youth centers have been established to accommodate (1995-1996) 8297 young males and females. On the other hand, there were 36 training centers supervised jointly by the youth and education sectors with 1310 students. Kuwait has 14 sport federations with 21 clubs and over 40,000 members. There are also specialised youth centers such as the Abdullah Al Salem Center for Rehabilitation Youth Leaders as well as the sport centers for women. The Boy Scouts has over 2600 members and youth hostels provide services for about 500 people annually.

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