Bahrain Education Ministry to overhaul early childhood education

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Ministry of Education is planning to reform the early childhood education system in Bahrain to make it more attractive and efficient.

Education Ministry as a first step is to create a roadmap for reforming the system. The move, the ministry said, is aimed at increasing accessibility to early learning for children in the Kingdom.

The ministry is also looking forward to appointing a consultancy for developing and implementing the plan, a tender board document said. The tender launched by the ministry says it is seeking proposals from bidders who possess the knowledge, experience and proven track record in implementing early childhood education.

A report published at the third International Conference on Teaching, Learning and Education in Amsterdam, Nethelands, points out early childhood education as a relatively new concept in Bahrain which dates to the early 1950s.

Furthermore, it points out that early childhood education and care are under two ministries in the Kingdom, “which leads to fragmented services.” The Ministry of Social Development supervises the nursery and infant programmes for children under three years of age, while the Ministry of Education is responsible for the preschools and early childhood education facilities for children over three years.

The report (https://www. dpublication.com/wp-content/ uploads/2021/02/38-748.pdf) by Hala Al Khalifa on Early Childhood Education in Bahrain: A Way Forward? published in February this year, points that only 52% of children attend early childhood education programmes and kindergartens in Bahrain in comparison to a staggering 85% in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and 77% in Kuwait.

“One of the main factors that contribute to the low ECEC coverage in Bahrain is the fact that there is no public free form of early childhood education programmes or kindergartens available to parents, as a result, most parents have been found to keep their children at home and then only enrol them at the age of 6 into a public primary school,” the report finds.

The study also quotes a 2012 Ministry of Education report, which indicates that 72% of kindergartens fail to meet minimum classroom regulations and requirements against the standards set by the ministry.

“In addition, 77% of preschool teachers have only reached a qualification of a high school diploma, and that there is no set syllabus or curriculum for preschool and early childhood education programmes,” the report points out.

The study also points out the ratio of teacher students in kindergarten as 25 students per teacher. Make bids Those interested in taking part in the project should make bids before the 8th of December 2021, with a BD500 initial bond, with a tender fee of BD15.