Dr. Maryam Hasan Mustafa, Chief Executive Officer of the Education and Training Quality Authority (BQA) affirmed that the Kingdom of Bahrain, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, is committed to continuously enhance the performance of Bahrain’s education and training institutions, through a vision focused on investing in national competencies as a cornerstone for sustainable development.
This statement coincided with the Authority’s issuance of the Performance Report of Education and Training Institutions for the Academic Year 2024-2025. The report provides a complete analysis of the performance of education and training institutions across the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The Chief Executive added that the Authority carries out its operations based on the values of transparency and professionalism, focusing on supporting excellence and sustainability in the institutions’ performance through showcasing of effective practices and promoting continuous improvement.
The report included the performance outcomes of 76 government schools and 23 private schools, 22 independent kindergartens, and 19 vocational training institutes. Higher education reviews covered the results of 15 academic programmes and 10 institutional reviews. The reports listed 20 institutions and 105 national qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), in addition to 25 foreign qualifications.
The recent school reviews demonstrate a positive trend, where 24 government schools showed notable improvement and 45 schools remained at their previous level. Meanwhile, 11 private schools improved by one grade, and seven private schools maintained their previous rating.
Regarding the performance of kindergartens, the first official reviews revealed effective practices in the teaching environment and the support for children’s social and emotional growth with recommendations for enhancing guided child initiated and play-based learning.
The report also referred to the vocational education and training institutions that were reviewed, and maintained their performance, demonstrating increased awareness of quality assurance culture and compliance with review requirements.
In higher education, the reviewed academic programmes in this period received a “Confidence” judgement with improvement in the quality of education and student support services, while recommendations were made to strengthen strategic planning.
Regarding the National Qualifications Framework, the report confirmed that 76% of the total licensed institutions have been included within the framework, with a 66% increase in the number of education and training institutions listed compared to last year.
Additionally, 105 national qualifications were listed, representing 52% of the licensed national qualifications. The total number of qualifications assigned this year exceeded three times that of the previous year, confirming the effectiveness of the procedures and commitment of institutions to the National Qualifications Framework processes.
Furthermore, 25 foreign qualifications were aligned to the National Qualifications Framework, enhancing the integration between local and foreign qualifications and broadening their recognition.
The report referred to the results of the national examinations. A total of 12,690 Grade 12 students from 38 public schools and 16 private schools that participated voluntarily, while 12,839 Grade 9 students from 62 public schools took part.
Students demonstrated good understanding of core skills and knowledge across all subjects.
It is worth noting that all performance reports are accessible to students, parents, and stakeholders via the Authority’s website: www.bqa.gov.bh