Premier: Bahrain home of science, knowledge

Manama, Feb. 5 (BNA): His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has asserted that Bahrain is the home of science and knowledge thanks to its citizens' awareness and distinguished scientific performance. "This makes us more proud," he said, directing schools to instill good citizenship and love of science and knowledge in students. HRH Premier was speaking while receiving at the Gudaibiya Palace today Education Minister, Dr. Majid bin Ali Al-Nuaimi, who introduced to him the Principal and a some members of the academic and administrative staff of the Rabia'a Al-Adawiya Primary Girls' School, the winners of the 13th edition of the "Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Award for Excellence in Educational Performance". While presenting the award to the winning school, HRH the Prime Minister affirmed that investment in human resources is the cornerstone of countries' progress and civilisations' building. "The government was well aware of this and based its human development programmes on it," he said. HRH Premier asserted that promoting the atmosphere of competition leads to more progress in the educational process, and contributes to improving its output, calling for consolidating and broadening educational competition to achieve the forecast goals. The Prime Minister requested those in charge of the educational process to make sure that schools deliver the best learning and educational services with methods that foster creativity, away from traditional teaching patterns. HRH Premier emphasised the need to encourage students to acquire sciences and make research, which, he explained, will strengthen their cognitive skills and enhance their ability to enter the labour market with confidence. The Premier affirmed that the government had recognised the importance of education, and therefore it paid attention to it and formed specialised agencies to follow up on the educational process, from basic to university education. Such efforts, coupled with the endeavours of the Ministry of Education, led to the creation of an integrated educational atmosphere that prepared a promising generation of students who are capable of understanding the requirements of development and leading it towards more progress, the Prime Minister said, hailing the key role played by schools in the educational process. HRH Premier congratulated the Rabia'a Al-Adawiya Primary Girls' School for winning the prestigious award. He also commended the tremendous efforts exerted by the affiliates of the Education Ministry which, he said, led to the kingdom's achieving of outstanding results at the level of international tests, wishing them further success. The education minister extended thanks and appreciation to HRH the Prime Minister for his constant interest in the educational process, which, he affirmed, enhanced Bahrain's progress in many fields of education. He stressed that the Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Award for Excellence in Educational Performance has contributed to developing the performance of schools, adding that the Premier's directives have promoted excellence and creativility in the government work, in general, and in education, in particular. He indicated that the Rabia'a Al-Adawiya Primart Girls School's winning of the 13th Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Award for Excellence in Educational Performance reflects its optimal adoption of the development programmes implemented by the government. It is also one of the fruitful outcomes of the Schools' Performance Improvement Programme, which is implemented by the Education Ministry within the initiatives of the National Project to Develop Education and Training, he said, noting those initiatives have significantly contributed to increasing the number of schools with excellent performance.