Hassan Al-Sitri
The government confirmed that the parliamentary draft including its responsibility to establish kindergartens contradicts educational policy in the Kingdom of Bahrain and international practices, in addition to achieving the purpose of the draft law within the roles of the Ministry of Education in monitoring and supervising kindergartens.
She stated that the established norm in jurisprudence when preparing legislation is that it be drafted in a way that is compatible with the existing legal context, and this means that the texts of the legislation or the proposed law be consistent with each other without conflicting with each other on the one hand, and with the relevant texts in the applicable legislation and existing related laws, and not in isolation from it on the other hand, as the entire legislative system must be a building. One, and the proposed legislation or law serves as a building block in this building without distortion or departure from the structure of this building as a whole.
She added: The purpose of the draft law is to keep pace with the legislative trend by reducing the obligation, by preparing the law to keep pace with this legislative trend, in addition to including the establishment of kindergartens among the responsibilities undertaken by the Ministry of Education. The government notes that, according to what is settled on, the legislative system as a whole represents one integrated fabric, and after the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain it is the highest and highest law that It specifies the basic rules for each legal rule that follows it in rank. The Constitution stipulates in its Article No. 7 that: “The state shall sponsor sciences, literature, and the arts, encourage scientific research, and guarantee educational and cultural services for citizens. Education shall be compulsory and free in the first stages determined by the law, and in the manner in which the law specifies and sets the necessary plan to eliminate illiteracy.
She continued: In implementation of the constitutional text, Law No. 27 of 2005 regarding education framed the concept of compulsion and its limits, in addition to defining the responsibilities and powers of the Ministry of Education with regard to the private sector, in accordance with the educational policy affirmed by the constitution, and stipulated in its first article that: “It is compulsory to reach the age of six years according to the Gregorian date of the child’s birth, and the obligation ends when he reaches fifteen years of age.” “His age.” Article Five stipulates that the Ministry’s human capabilities and material resources shall be directed to achieving the objectives of the educational policy and future directions for developing education, and it shall undertake its responsibilities as follows:
6 – Encouraging private education to contribute to the spread of education within the framework of the Kingdom’s general policy.
15- The Ministry works to support and encourage the private sector in establishing kindergartens, while working to monitor them from both the educational and administrative aspects.
The Children’s Law promulgated by Law No. 37 of 2012 stipulates in Article 35 that: “The state shall work to make kindergarten education available to children in the age group of “three to six years” in order to achieve comprehensive and integrated development for every child in the mental, physical, motor, emotional, and social fields.”
Article 36 of the same law also stipulates that kindergartens are subject to the plans and programs of the Ministry of Education and administrative and technical supervision, and an issue is issued specifying their specifications, how to establish them, and organizing work in them. Its educational curricula, and conditions for admission and enrollment, are decided by the Minister of Education.”
According to regional and international legislation and practices related to determining the compulsory age for education, it has been shown that most countries have set six as the compulsory age for children to be admitted to education, which is similar to the policy currently followed in the Kingdom of Bahrain by specifying from the age of six to begin the legal and obligatory age for children to enroll in basic education. Among the countries that adopt the same educational policy are the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the State of the United Arab Emirates, the State of Kuwait, and the Arab Republic of Egypt, which adopt the same regulation in determining the age of admission to the primary education stage, while leaving the option of lowering the age of admission at this stage, in accordance with the educational policy followed, and in harmony with the desire of parents to enroll their children in the basic education stage or not.
In order to achieve the best interest of children, the Ministry of Education has announced, starting from the 2023-2024 academic year, the opening of admission for new children wishing to enroll in primary education from those born in the months of September to December of the year 2017 AD, so that those born during the entire academic year in which children reach compulsory education are accepted, and they will be in school seats at the start of the new academic year, just like children who have actually reached the age of six. This is to achieve the highest levels of satisfaction among citizens and parents, who want their sons and daughters who have not reached compulsory age to attend government schools at the beginning of the school year, so that the Kingdom of Bahrain has thus implemented one of the finest international educational policies in accepting new children into the first educational cycle, which enhances their learning opportunities.
After this decision, it is a qualitative educational step and a policy that the Ministry will implement permanently and is not an exception. This decision is limited to those born in the months of September until December of the academic year during which the child has not reached the age of compulsory education, and it does not extend all months in such a way that the compulsory age decreases from the age of six for the child to five, as was indicated in the body of the explanatory memorandum, on the one hand.
On the other hand, obliging the government, represented by the Ministry of Education, to establish kindergartens, violates the aforementioned laws, which define the powers and responsibilities of the Ministry of Education, which are represented in granting licenses to establish educational institutions that include kindergartens, monitoring the extent of their compliance with the approved controls and regulations, monitoring those institutions, and supervising them from the educational and administrative sides. The actual establishment and management of these institutions is done by the private sector, in accordance with international best practices in this regard.
The government explained in its memorandum that the Ministry of Education, within its responsibilities and powers, actually supervises kindergartens, and the Ministry plays a fundamental role in encouraging the private sector to establish kindergartens with the aim of contributing to the dissemination of science and knowledge. The Ministry also works to provide multiple forms of support, whether direct or indirect, to kindergarten institutions and their employees, in a way that enhances the quality of educational services and contributes to their sustainability, and this comes within the framework of its close cooperation. With the private sector to enhance investment in education and achieve the desired goals of spreading knowledge and building generations capable of contributing to the sustainable development of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The Ministry also ensures the extent of kindergarten compliance with the provisions of Decree Law No. 25 of 1998 regarding private educational and training institutions and the decisions and circulars issued in implementation thereof. In the event of any violation of these provisions or instructions, the Ministry activates its administrative and legal powers, based on the provisions of Article 28 of the same Decree Law, in order to consolidate its oversight and supervisory role over these institutions, which prompted the Ministry to issue a framework Regulating independent early education institutions, with the aim of organizing the work of these institutions, improving the quality of their services, and increasing the volume of investment in kindergartens.
She called on the government to reconsider the proposed draft law, stressing that it will always remain fully prepared to cooperate with the private sector to achieve the interests of citizens, provide the necessary support for kindergartens, supervise and monitor them in accordance with available capabilities, and within the framework of legislation in force and regulation in the Kingdom of Bahrain and implement policies, programs and initiatives that contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of governance starting from the early education stage. To achieve integration between educational institutions, and to enhance partnership and investment with the private sector, which contributes to developing private education and improving its services.
