King deputizes FM to award UNESCO-King Hamad ICT Prize

Manama, Feb. 21 (BNA): On behalf of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, awarded (The UNESCO King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize for the use of information and communication technologies in education) in presence of Minister of education Dr. Majid bin Ali Al-Nuaimi during the Award Ceremony organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in cooperation with the Ministry of education at the premises of UNESCO in Paris. The Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed, in his speech, on this occasion that (The UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the use of information and communication technologies in education) embodies the close interaction and creative cooperation between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the UNESCO and illustrated the outstanding rank of the Kingdom of Bahrain in providing high quality education for all that meets the international standards. He pointed Bahrain's keenness to spread the noble values that UNESCO strives to instill and its strenuous efforts to support education and provide it to all with the latest and best means. The Foreign Minister extended his gratitude to the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, for her leadership of the organization since she assumed this position In 2009. He appreciated her tireless efforts to improve the mechanisms of the organization’s work and optimizing its role across the globe. He noted Bokova high attention for this international prize that is dedicated to serve the organization objectives and support its efforts in spreading education through the use of information and communication technologies. He stated that this prestigious prize demonstrates the high attention of the developed electronic education received from HM the King in recognition of its effective and vital role in the improvement of the output of education which reflects positively on sustainable development and it also ascertains His Majesty’s keenness to make learning and education available for everyone as a consequence of international cooperation through the use of information technology and communication in the field of education, encouragement of innovative scientific initiatives, and presentation of worldwide pioneers works and projects as models to be emulated and to exchange experiences in order to instill human values that strengthen the constrictive interaction and coexistence among nations. Shaikh Khalid highlighted that the Kingdom of Bahrain is proud that modern education had started in Bahrain since 1919 and it will celebrate its 100th anniversary after two years, the achievement of 96% literacy, and an international pioneer in elementary education and genre parity, as well as it achieved high rank in quality education indeces including Bahrain high score in Mathematics index at international level throughout the period from 2011 to 2015. He extended sincere congratulations to the winner of (The UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the use of information and communication technologies in education) Kiron Open Higher Education institution in Germany for the magnificent service it provided to the refugees, its keenness to defuse their suffering and provide them with opportunity to graduate with accredited university degrees to enable them fulfill their potential and improve their life prospects through online education, and also JAAGO Foundation in Bangladesh for its success in catering quality education to the children in rural areas using visual communication remote system that qualified it to win this prestigious prize to encourage other institutions to follow it to invest in modern technologies in education to empower the underprivileged masses across the globe. The Minister of Foreign Affairs reiterated that the Kingdom of Bahrain through the Ministry of Education led by Dr. Majid bin Ali Al Nuaimi will continue its cooperation with this international organization in the fields of its specialties.