Education ministry not compelled to enroll underage students

Education Minister Majed bin Ali Al Nuaimi has reiterated the ministry’s commitment to providing services for all those eligible to receive them in accordance with the rules and regulations and as per the vacancies in the schools.

The minister said that the ministry has been able to accommodate all boys and girls born in September, October and November 2011, but not the 1,300 children born in December.
“Under education regulations, the ministry is committed to provide seats for all boys and girls aged six by August 31,” the minister said. “However, exceptions are allowed as long as there are vacancies, and this explains why we were able to include those born in the next three months, September, October and November, but not those in December. Nevertheless, we are keeping the door open, and if there are vacancies, we will sign up those or some of those who were born in December 2011.”
The minister warned private schools against enrolling students aged four or five in the first grade.
Children are too young to absorb the requirements of a formal education, he explained.
“Reliable studies have demonstrated that they are not prepared for the first grade. We also face a problem when parents want to transfer their underage children from private schools to public schools. We insist on applying the rules that link students’ ages with their school levels.”
Al Nuaimi added that the results of national examinations did not reflect the true standards of the students, explaining that many of those who sat for the tests did not pay enough attention claiming they did not mean much to them and returned the papers without answering the questions.
However, the situation has changed after the examination results were given a 12.5 per cent weight and computed in the students’ monthly average.
Al Nuaimi told Bahrain News Agency (BNA) that 10 schools would be opened by 2018 and that five of them would be operational this year.
He said that the higher education in Bahrain would receive a great boost after several international universities said they would open branches in the kingdom.
The minister said that 75 schools accommodated male and female students with special needs, representing 36 per cent of all public schools.
He added that 24,000 students took part in the reading challenge competition and achieved satisfactory results, with a Bahraini student coming third and a private school selected as one of the top three schools in the Arab world.

Source: Fana News