Several Bahrain schools failing pupils

A government report into the state of education at several Bahrain schools and universities has found many are failing their students.

Out of 20 public and private institutions three were deemed "inadequate", 13 "satisfactory" and four "good", while none achieved the highest level possible, according to a report in the Gulf Daily News.

Two of four higher education courses reviewed received "no confidence" votes, with the other two courses receiving "limited confidence" rulings.

Vocational colleges were also heavily criticised in the scheme, with half considered “inadequate”.

Dr Jawaher Al Mudhahki, chief executive of the Quality Assurance Authority for Education and Training (QAAET), told the daily paper it would take time for positive effects of the authority to be seen.

"If there was no indication that there was a need to take a look at current institutions to see how they could be improved then we would not have been commissioned," she said.

"We being here means the people in charge know that something needs to be improved and hopefully we will get to a point where progress is made."

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) announced on Monday that all maths and science lessons in state high schools will be taught in English by 2012.

The move is an attempt to increase the number of pupils graduating with equal proficiency in English and Arabic and is part of Adec’s 10-year plan to improve general standards of education. It comes on the back of news on Monday that the school day will be increased by 90 minutes from the start of next term.

Dr Mugheer al Khaili, the director general of Adec, told The National: “We want to have bilingual students, which still means that we must preserve our culture and religion and maintain the importance of the Arabic language.

“But we also need to concentrate on English ... It is the international language of instruction, the language of science, business and technology.”

Also on Monday, the Sharjah Indian School will be closed by the Ministry of Education for breaking rules on holding afternoon classes for pupils, the Gulf News reported.

The ministry said the school, which opened in 1979 and now has more than 8,500 students, started an afternoon shift for pupils between 1pm until 5pm without informing authorities.

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