Use of Local Experts:
- Use of Local Experts working in government and private education and training institutions to conduct the BQA's reviews. This contributes actively to the exchange of local experiences in terms of verification and institutional listing standards, and the promotion of the principle of community engagement.
- Publication of a list of the experts who have been involved in the BQA's reviews and their curricula vitae on its website as a knowledge-sharing initiative, and as an appreciation of their joint efforts in the operations of National Qualifications Framework, training and higher education institutions.
The Authority uses all social media platforms and 'Tawasul' System in promoting the Community Engagement Strategy by surveying the public observations, queries and suggestions and addressing them as quickly as possible.
Stakeholders participation:
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, education systems around the world have faced enormous challenges, forcing them to reconsider their methods and strategies at all levels with respect to the educational process in schools, in order to ensure students' right to learn.
The responses of systems around the world varied in terms of providing solutions to deal with the repercussions of the pandemic, with increased emphasis on education technology as a key element. This has necessitated a redesign of: The learning experience, assessment methods, support and follow-up mechanisms and school day, including school hours and timing, in addition to the urgent need to train teachers, administrative and technical staff to ensure rapid adaptation to these conditions and developments.
The Kingdom of Bahrain was no exception from this worldwide trend as it dealt with these circumstances immediately with a set of strategic decisions under the leadership of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister who, since 17 March 2020, has been closely following up on all developments to date. In the first phase, the Education and Training Quality Authority examined and evaluated the quality of distance education and training practices in a sample of private schools, surveyed the views of school leaders, teachers and parents in government schools, in addition to evaluating educational situations and practices from March to June 2020. Then, the BQA issued its first report on the subject with a set of recommendations for performance development. The Authority, upon consultation with the relevant parties, and building on the findings of the first phase, designed an exceptional framework for evaluating the quality of school practices. The purpose of this unique framework is to evaluate the quality of school practices during exceptional circumstances in all government and private schools in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Part One: Overview of the procedures implemented by the DSR and related stakeholders during the pandemic
The response of the Education and Training Quality Authority, represented by the Directorate of Government Schools Reviews (DGS) and the Directorate of Private Schools & Kindergartens Reviews (DPS), have gone through several phases, including pilot implementation, consultation with stakeholders, international consultation, issuance of a 'Handbook for Evaluating the Quality of School Practices During Exceptional Circumstances', conducting training on it and the development of procedures and processes in line with the nature of the phase, ensuring coverage of all responses and efforts made by regulators and government and private schools alike.
The Directorate of Government Schools Reviews (DGS) and the Directorate of Private Schools & Kindergartens Reviews (DPS)
Immediately after the announcement of the exceptional circumstances during which the schools were suspended from March to June 2020, the Authority, represented by the Directorate of Government Schools Reviews (DGS) and the Directorate of Private Schools & Kindergartens Reviews(DPS), evaluated the quality of distance education practices and applications in schools across the Kingdom of Bahrain, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This phase included the analysis of 'Self-Evaluation of Quality of School Practices during Exceptional Circumstances', observation of centralized Ministry and school-provided virtual lessons, evaluation of televised lessons and electronic channels of communication, interviewing and surveying the views of students, parents and school staff and the implementation of virtual evaluations of a sample of private schools. This was accompanied by the issuance of a report presenting findings and recommendations.
The Directorates have continued to work on developing evaluation indicators and mechanisms in line with the nature of the phase that seemed exceptional in all aspects. The outcomes of the previous phase have already been used to formulate and determine the form of the appropriate evaluation method, which ensures students' right to continued learning. Upon defining the initial draft of the evaluation indicators, the Authority analysed the feedback from a sample of schools and parents, in addition to the Ministry of Education and the Education Team of the Supreme Council for the Development of Education and Training, in order to develop and determine their final version. They were then presented to international experts in the field of school performance evaluation who praised the Kingdom of Bahrain's distinguished response, in terms of the evaluation of school practices during such circumstances. The Schools Evaluation Framework was adopted by the Council of Ministers prior to its implementation.
The Authority has also developed an online hub, through which schools have access to all documents related to the exceptional evaluation process. This online platform enables schools to download the required documents, forms and handbooks. In parallel, the BQA had organised training sessions for all government and private schools and the concerned parties at the Ministry of Education to build their capacity and train them in this regard, in addition to holding a webinar focusing on this topic in August 2021.
Surveying the views of school managements on the 'Framework for Evaluating the Quality of School Practices during Exceptional Circumstances' and its procedures
Based on BQA's belief in the importance of receiving feedback from the key beneficiaries of its operations, the DSR surveyed the views of school leaders in government and private schools to obtain their views on the appropriateness of the Exceptional Evaluation Handbook, the feasibility of its accompanying processes and its implementation mechanisms. 70% of the schools that had undergone exceptional evaluation in the 2020-2021 academic year responded to the survey.
In general, school leaders expressed a high satisfaction rate of more than 95% in most of the topics, emphasizing that the exceptional evaluation handbook directly contributed to providing guidelines for dealing with the exceptional phase at a time when expectations were not fully clear. School leaders also demonstrated positive attitudes towards the mechanisms for applying the exceptional evaluation handbook. Their responses can be summarized as follows:
- - Approximately 95% of school leaders were highly satisfied with the provision of the 'Handbook for Evaluating the Quality of School Practices during Exceptional Circumstances', which provides standardized guidelines to guide school efforts to deal with the requirements of the phase, and contributes to schools' preparation for external evaluations.
- - Approximately 95% of school leaders praised the appropriateness of the 'Self-Evaluation of Quality of School Practices during Exceptional Circumstances', and its effective role in accurately evaluating the quality of school practices.
- - Approximately 95% believe that the electronic arrangements made by the BQA have made the evaluation process smoother. They also praised the pre-communication processes to eliminate any confusion, answer all queries prior to the evaluation process and the effectiveness of the virtual meetings.
- - Approximately 93% of school leaders confirmed that schools classified in the Category (A) in the classification of the overall performance are considered to have met the expectations of the evaluation process, while 7% expressed an impartial view.
- - According to 95% of school leaders, the 'Handbook for Evaluating the Quality of School Practices during Exceptional Circumstances', is appropriate for exceptional circumstance and the situations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
School leaders have provided their views regarding the development of the 'Handbook for Evaluating the Quality of School Practices during Exceptional Circumstances' and its processes, which will be taken into account when reviewing and revising the 'Handbook' in line with the requirements of the next school year.
Part Two: Findings of the evaluation of the exceptional performance of school practices in the academic year 2020-2021
The Education and Training Quality Authority, represented by the Directorate of Government Schools Reviews (DGS) and the Directorate of Private Schools & Kindergartens Reviews (DPS), evaluated the performance of a group of government and private schools during the academic year 2020-2021, in accordance with the 'Handbook for Evaluating the Quality of School Practices during Exceptional Circumstances in Government & Private Schools', covering all stages of education in government and private schools.
