Minister, MP face-off at Council session

A Parliamentarian and a Minister were involved in a prolonged wrangle over the statements of the MP against the Minister last week.

Education Minister Dr. Majid Al Nuaimi’s absence from the weekly Parliament session last Tuesday had annoyed MP Jalal Kadhem Al Mahfoudh. The Minister was to answer the queries of Jalal Kadhem Al Mahfoudh on the outcomes of education quality development in that session. The MP had accused the Minister of parrying parliamentary queries last week.

In response to the MP’s statements, Dr. Al Nuaimi yesterday clarified that the development of education had been going on for more than 10 continuous years through the implementation of national initiative projects that were focusing on curriculum and teachers’ training development as well as the development of the schools’ infrastructure.

Dr. Al Nuaimi requested the council to the transcript of the session, adding that he had information that would make the MP “regret” making such statements next time.

The Minister’s last statement upset the MP, who called it a “clear threatening to the representatives of the people of Bahrain.”

“It’s a questioning stand that he’s not on an opera stand. He’s obliged to answer our queries and not runaway from questioning. The Ministry has failed to qualify graduates to be eligible for decent jobs in the labour market. There is a noticeable weakness in the English language curricula in schools,” MP Al Mahfoudh explained.

Dr. Al Nuaimi has made it clear in his statements, through figures and statistics that public schools remain the best quality of education at all levels.

“The MP overstepped his bounds by repeating that the Minister avoided answering the questions, after which the Minister demanded he rescind his speech,” Education Ministry said in a statement.