HRH Princess Sabeeka highlights Bahraini women's contributions to higher education

Manama, (BNA): Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of HM the King and President of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW), received at the SCW’s premises here, in the presence of Education Minister, Dr. Majid bin Ali Al-Nuaimi, a number of high education officials and specialists, in addition to Bahraini women university professors. The audience follows HRH Princess Sabeeka’s decision to allocate the Bahraini Women’s Day 2019 to celebrating the Bahraini women’s contributions to higher education, and their opportunities in the future sciences. HRH Princess Sabeeka highlighted His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s pride in the Bahraini women’s role and clear contributions to the educational field, citing the King’s call to document their contributions in this field in order to inform the future generations about their pioneering role. HRH Princess Sabeeka affirmed that HM the King’s interest is based on the Bahraini women’s landmark achievements in such a key field, citing their success in reaching leadership positions, including a university president and a dean. She also highlighted their success in obtaining high scientific degrees in the fields of university teaching and academic research, as well as in joining international agencies and centres as members. HRH Princess Sabeeka stressed the importance of the meeting with an elite of Bahraini higher education competencies, marking the choice of the theme of this year’s Bahraini Women’s Day. The SCW President said that the choice of this year’s theme is in accordance with the kingdom’s celebrations of 100 years of formal education, noting that in 2008, the Bahraini Women’s Day was declared as a national occasion marking 80 years since the beginning of formal education for women in Bahrain. HRH Princess Sabeeka affirmed that the theme of this year’s Bahraini Women’s Day emanates from a distinctive feature characterising both the Bahrain women and society, which is their respect for science and appreciation of those in charge of it, hence the event’s slogan "I read, I learned, I participated", which focuses on education as the basis for the Bahraini women’s effective participation in building their nation. The theme adds a new dimension to Bahraini women’s role, which is the need to prepare them to engage in the fields of future sciences, in light of their remarkable presence in higher education as graduates or professors, she said. HRH Princess Sabeeka asserted that the SCW is looking forward to receiving the ideas, visions and proposals of higher education officials, specialists and female academics through focus groups and panel discussions on ways to encourage girls to join promising education fields, such as technical and vocational education, as well as future sciences to meet the present and future requirements of the labour market. HRH Princess Sabeeka revealed the SCW’s plans to hold the first women hackathon in Bahrain to promote innovation and invention skills in the field of technical software that is related to the future sciences which Bahrain is adopting in many promising sectors, such as banking, oil, medicine and space. Those present stressed that HRH Princess Sabeeka’s initiative to devote this year’s Bahraini Women’s Day to celebrating women’s contributions to higher education and their expected role in the field of future sciences will shed light on Bahraini women’s prominent achievements in such a key sector, and encourage them to make further progress in their studies and work. They expressed their readiness to cooperate with the SCW in the events to be organised on the sidelines of the Bahraini Women’s Day 2019.