Kuwait has launched a programme to replace textbooks with e-books in order to make reading exciting, fun and appealing to students.

"Information technology is not a luxury but a national duty to transfer education from its traditional form to electronic, in order to bring out the utmost potential in both student and teacher," Kuwait's Education Minister Ahmad al Mulaifi was quoted by Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) as saying.

The project, which is estimated to cost USD 939,052, would be continuously developed until it reaches its goal of placing interactive textbooks in students' hands, ministry officials said.

As many as 908 textbooks will be converted into the new electronic form, while 371,000 flash memory units will be distributed soon.

The first batch of flash memory sticks will be distributed to high school students soon while elementary and intermediate students will receive theirs after the Eid holidays.