News source: Bahrain News Agency

Deputy Premier chairs meeting of Supreme Council for Development of Education and Training

17 May, 2022

Manama, May 17 (BNA): Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Supreme Council for the Development of Education and Training, Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, chaired the council’s 49th meeting held online today. He asserted the government’s keenness to develop the educational and training sector which enjoys continuous follow-up from His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. He pointed out the government’s efforts to invest in citizens and give them top priority in the labour market so as to achieve Bahrain Economic Vision 2030.

The council reviewed a report on the work of the committee for preparing the vision and strategy for the development of education and training, which is headed by Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs, Ayman bin Tawfiq Al-Moayed, the board Chairman of the Education and Training Quality Authority (BQA). The report included a presentation spotlighting the most important results of the evaluation phase of the education and training sectors in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The council praised the achievements made in this regard since the inauguration of the national initiatives to develop education and training in 2006 and their impact on the outcomes of the public and after-school education system.

The council was also briefed on the priorities that will be focused on through the education and training development strategy, to build on the success that has been achieved, ensure the sustainability of development, keep pace with the best international practices for the development of education and training, provide the best opportunities for learners and trainees, and link the outputs to the needs of the labour market and future aspirations.

After that, the council reviewed the developments of the executive plan of the Bahrain Teachers College (BTC), submitted by the college’s Board of Directors, including the most prominent achievements of the executive plan for the year 2021, such as raising the college’s absorptive capacity to qualify and train Bahraini teachers and school leaders, providing apprenticeship programmes for teachers working in private schools as well as offering academic programmes with reputable international universities.

In this context, the council welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between BTC and Boston University, in the USA, with the aim of offering a master’s programme in educational leadership for workers in the educational field. It noted the direct impact of the memo on the development and refinement of Bahraini competencies working in this field. It emphasised that signing such memoranda with reputable international institutions would enhance BTC’s status regionally and internationally.

The council also discussed a wide range of issues pertaining to upgrading the educational and training sector and the initiatives taken in this respect. It spotlighted developing BTC’s regulations to boost its financial and administrative performance in accordance with an academic system that is in tune with the University of Bahrain, on one hand, and to guarantee the college’s financial and administrative autonomy, on the other hand.

The council was also briefed about a proposal to develop Bahrain Polytechnic, which was submitted by the college’s Chief Executive, Dr. Ciarán Ó Catháin. The plan aims to promote the applied educational and training options by enhancing the absorptive capacity of Bahrain Polytechnic to develop applied education in the post-school period.

The council reviewed the latest developments of Bahrain Skills Project and the Employment Skills Platform.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Council for the Development of Education and Training expressed thanks and appreciation to the members of the council and sub-committees as well as the taskforces working on the education and training development initiatives for their unrelenting efforts and achievements. He underscored the need to continue those endeavours to attain the government’s goals in the education and training sectors.