Bahrain announces comprehensive update for checking academic qualifications

TDT | Manama                                                             

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Details of the comprehensive update for auditing university degrees and educational qualifications, which was approved by the Cabinet, have been announced.

This came during yesterday’s press conference attended by Dr Mohammed Mubarak bin Ahmed, Chairperson of the Council for Regulating the Practice of Engineering Professions, Eng. Maryam Ahmed Jama’an, Director of the Employment Department at the Civil Service Bureau, Ali Al Hammadi, and Dr Zubaidah Al Sheikh from the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA).

Dr Mohammed said that this comprehensive update of the audit of university degrees and educational qualifications would contribute to facilitating the process of employing citizens, taking into account the necessary audit of academic qualifications related mainly to specialised professions in fields like medicine, engineering.

He added that in order to achieve these ambitious goals, a comprehensive update has been made on the audit mechanism for university degrees and academic qualifications issued from inside and outside the Kingdom of Bahrain, where local universities will be authorised to audit certificates, and link local university systems with the systems of the General Secretariat of the Higher Education Council. And, then, the General Secretariat of the Higher Education Council audits the data of educational qualifications.

With regard to certificates issued from outside the Kingdom, the Director General of Schools Affairs explained that the mandatory certificate equivalency has been cancelled, and it is enough to verify the validity of the certificate through companies specialised in checking the validity of qualifications recommended by the Ministry of Education.

Regarding master’s and doctoral qualifications, Dr Mohammed indicated that the comprehensive update allows for the possibility of verifying the validity of the certificates by the employer or private sector institutions through the specialised companies recommended by the Ministry of Education. The affidavits for depositing scientific theses in the national public libraries of the Ministry of Education will continue to be granted according to the specified conditions.

Within the same context, the Schools Affairs Director General indicated that in order to speed up recruitment procedures in the private sector, the companies can optionally verify the validity of the educational qualifications.