Ministry of Education denies reports over new recruits from Egypt

A document that was recently circulated online, showing that Bahrain is recruiting around 40 teachers from Egypt for the next school year, has raised concerns over Education Ministry’s (MoE) alleged reluctance to recruit unemployed Bahraini teachers.

Sources say there are more than 500 jobless Bahraini teachers in the Kingdom. The controversial document was apparently issued by the Secondment Directorate in the Egyptian Education Ministry.

It showed the names of 91 Egyptian teachers who had their applications to work in Sudan, Oman and Bahrain in the next school year (2018/2019) approved.

This included 38 teachers recruited to work in the Kingdom to teach Arabic language, mathematics and English language.

Egyptian news sites confirmed the transfer of the teachers from Kafr El Sheikh Governorate in the northern parts of Egypt to Bahrain.

The matter stirred a debate on local social media networks, as Education Ministry repeatedly announced in the past few years that it strives to Bahrainise jobs in public educational institutions and reduce the numbers of unemployed Bahraini teachers.

Several MPs have also addressed the issue on more than one occasion during the recently concluded legislative term. They demanded to increase the Bahrainisation rates in Education Ministry to 90 per cent (80 pc is achieved according to the latest statistics).

The parliamentarians also raised several queries about the enrollment of Bahraini teachers in the ministry’s workforce between 2014 and 2018.

The latest figures revealed by some MPs showed that there are more than 500 unemployed Bahraini teachers in different majors that include history, sports and English and Arabic languages.

Education Ministry denied that the published reports were authentic and affirmed that hiring Bahraini cadres is a priority to it.