Bahrain ranks third Arab country in PIRLS
Manama, May 16 (BNA): Bahrain students have excelled in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2021), as their academic average increased to 458 points, marking an increase of 12 points compared to the previous results in 2016.
Bahrain ranked third Arab country, and 45th in the world, in a study in which 5,251 male and female fourth-grade students from 119 public schools and 67 private schools in the Kingdom participated.
Commenting, Dr. Mohammed bin Mubarak Juma, Minister of Education, expressed his pride in these distinguished results achieved by the students of Bahrain despite the challenges faced by the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the fact that it’s the Kingdom's second participation in this international test.
He stressed that the development of the educational process in Bahrain is fruitful outcome of the support of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the follow-up of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
The minister praised the Education Ministry’s efforts to advance educational services at all levels, especially those related to basic skills, such as reading and writing in Arabic and English, as well as numeracy skills, expressing his appreciation to everyone who contributed to the achievement.
Dr. Samah Al Ajjawi, Assistant Undersecretary for the Development of Teaching and Learning Policies and the National Coordinator of the Office of Studies and Research TIMSS and PIRLS, said that the Ministry has worked hard to implement the study because of its significance, despite all the difficulties that education process had faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
She praised the efforts of Curriculum Development Directorate and school teachers in providing various soft and paper activities that contributed to the progress made by the Kingdom's students.
The Ministry of Education has strived to develop working plans to enhance the strengths and address weaknesses of the students since the previous results in 2016 through training workshops to develop reading comprehension skills for fourth-grade students.
