Education Minister: Bahrain turned pandemic challenges into success opportunities

Paris, Nov. 11 (BNA): Education Minister, Dr. Majid bin Ali Al-Nuaimi, has delivered a speech on behalf of the Kingdom of Bahrain at the 41st session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), held at the UNESCO headquarters here. The minister conveyed the greetings of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and those of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to the conferees, as well as their wishes of success to the conference. Dr. Al-Nuaimi congratulated the Chairman of the 41st UNESCO General Conference for his election to his post, and the UNESCO Director-General on her re-election. He affirmed the kingdom’s support for UNESCO’s Medium-Term Strategy for the 2022-2029 period, being a platform for generating ideas and a catalyst for international cooperation to strengthen the pillars of peace, promote sustainable development, and overcome the effects of the outbreak of the Coronavirus (Covid-19), especially on education, in addition to working on accelerating the process of the digitalisation of education, providing it and enhancing opportunities for lifelong learning, in light of this pandemic and the accompanying developments at the educational level. The Minister highlighted the pivotal role played by the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Education, in honouring outstanding initiatives aimed at delivering quality education to all groups, noting that the previous session of the prize focused on the role of artificial intelligence in ensuring the continuity and quality of learning. He indicated that the Kingdom has taken all measures to ensure that education remains among the priorities of the government, through its policies and interest in developing it, boosting scientific research, encouraging investment in it, promoting the values of citizenship, global citizenship and human rights, implementing the school project that promotes citizenship and human rights, and confronting all forms of extremism and intolerance in education. Dr. Al-Nuaimi affirmed that Bahrain has turned the challenges created by the pandemic into real success opportunities, be it through the King Hamad Schools of the Future Project, which provides great opportunities for electronic and digital learning, the centralised lesson and the educational portal (eduNET) which has become the main source of education and communication between teachers, students and parents, as reflected in the number of visits that had reached 68 million during the previous academic year, or other means, such as televised lessons and 14 YouTube channels. He also highlighted the role played by the Bahrain-based UNESCO’s Regional Centre for Information and Communication Technology (RCICT) in providing the necessary supportive programmes for the affiliates of the education sector. He stressed that efforts to provide quality education are continuing during the current academic year, thanks to the paramount importance the Kingdom attaches to providing education and achieving sustainable development goals. The Minister of Education pledged that during HM King Hamad’s prosperous era, the Kingdom of Bahrain will continue supporting UNESCO’s efforts to achieve its humanitarian goals and noble values.