Bahrain MP blames Ministry for students’ dilemma

Manama : Parliamentarian Jalal Kadhim has vowed to lodge a complaint with the higher authorities against the Education Ministry for not equalising the degrees of students who graduated from internationally recognised Chinese universities. 

While the MP blamed the Ministry for the dilemma, the ministry insisted that the students ignored its instructions and procedures before applying at the universities in China, putting the onus entirely on the students.

When the issue was raised at the House of Representatives last week, the Education Ministry had clarified that students sent on scholarships to Chinese universities have been jobless for the past two years as their requests to equalise their certificates were rejected.

The issue emerged when the MP submitted an urgent proposal during the weekly session of the House last Tuesday, demanding the government to give parity to the degrees of the 100 Bahraini students, who he said “spent six years studying in China and remained jobless here since 2015”.

The proposal was rejected as more than half of the MPs present at the session voted against it. 

The matter also appeared in local Arabic dailies lately, as a couple of columnists criticised the ministry for “bearing the expenses of the students’ fees for six years and later refusing to equalise their degrees”.

‘Students responsible’

In its reply, the Public Relations and Information Directorate in the Education Ministry confirmed that “the ministry sends students on scholarships only to accredited universities and academic programmes that meet the legally prescribed conditions and standards, which are announced in its annual plan”.

“Those who chose to study in such programmes for foreign students, whether at their own expense or with financial support from any other party, or those who benefited from the financial grants provided by the ministry, and did not return to the competent authority in the ministry to confirm that these programmes are subject to the conditions and criteria adopted by the National Committee for the Evaluation of Academic Qualifications, should take responsibility of their decision. The Committee cannot equalise the qualifications of universities that does not meet the requirements and criteria prescribed by the law,” the directorate said in a written statement on Saturday.

The directorate stressed in its statement, “The ministry has never sent any students to study medicine in academic programmes for foreign students in Chinese universities, as recently raised by several MPs and local press. The ministry has not recommended that these programmes would be accepted because they do not meet the approved criteria. The main condition is related to the admission, the content and method of studying. They should be the same to locals and foreign students. This is not applied by Chinese universities. This condition is a must for students studying in any foreign university.”

The directorate also said that “the ministry continuously stresses that students intending to study abroad should verify if the programmes they are planning to enroll meet the requirements of the committee, by reviewing them with the University Guidance Department and reviewing the foreign academic qualifications in the ministry building in Isa Town to ensure that the student obtains an equivalence for his qualifications in the event of graduation, and to confirm that these scholarships are not contravening with the Bahraini regulations, laws and decisions that organise studying abroad”.

“The ministry offers its ‘recommended universities’ service on its website, which allows students and their parents to search for universities and academic programmes recommended, locally, regionally and internationally” the directorate
added.

‘Ministry responsible’

While speaking to DT News yesterday, MP Kadhim was keen on blaming the ministry for “wasting eight years of 100 of Bahrain’s finest students’ lives”.

“These students who were granted the scholarships were among Bahrain’s high school toppers back in 2009. They’re now stuck because of the floundering policies of the ministry. The ministry sent them on these scholarships back then, how could they complicate the parity of these students’ certificates now. There are students of other universities that do not meet this criteria and the ministry equalised their degrees without any issues,” Kadhim said.

When asked about the next step after his proposal was rejected by the council last week, the legislator confirmed that “several meetings are scheduled to be held with the minister and top ministry officials”.

He also pledged to lodge a complaint against the ministry to the Cabinet if the situation was not resolved.

Kadhim insisted that “the ministry should be held accountable for wasting the money allocated for funding these scholarships” mentioning that “around BD250, 000 was spent on the university fees and this amount was deducted from the ministry’s share of the state budget”.

“These students are national assets. The country must embrace and develop them instead of diminishing their effective roles in the development of the Kingdom’s future. In fact, some of them were trained at Salmaniya Medical Complex when they returned here and passed the tests of the Health Ministry and the National Health Regulatory Authority to practice medicine. Why would Education Ministry unjustly stand as an obstacle in these students’ path,” Kadhim questioned.

He added, “These universities are internationally recognised. They shouldn’t be rejected by the authorities in Bahrain. Students of fellow GCC countries who studied along with the Bahrainis there were immediately trained and employed by the concerned authorities in their countries. The ministry’s statement in reply to this situation isn’t accepted and an effective solution must be adopted promptly.”  

DT News reported on Wednesday that Kadhim’s urgent proposal was rejected by the council by one opposing vote more than the supporting ones, in a session that witnessed a high percent of absence due to MPs participation in different international events.