Bahrain

Language and Literacy

In Bahrain, classical Arabic is the official language of instruction for all educational stages in public schools for all subjects. Therefore, one of the main objectives in developing basic education includes “helping students to acquire basic reading and writing skills in Arabic Language to empower them to employ it in reading, writing and self-expression.”¹ Although Arabic dialects differ from classical Arabic, it is the language spoken by the majority of the Bahraini population. A number of students attending public schools speak languages other than Arabic at home, such as Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, and Punjabi. The official policy in the Kingdom of Bahrain is to integrate all residents into public schools free of charge, as stipulated by Bahrain education law.²

Educational and cultural services in the Kingdom of Bahrain are a fundamental right for all citizens as legislated in the Bahrain Constitution.³ The main objective of the Bahrain education policy is to “offer to all citizens, without any type of discrimination, equal opportunities to receive education.”⁴ The Ministry of Education determines general objectives of education and the allocation of instructional time among the subjects. The Directorate of Curricula decides the objectives and content of instruction and includes them in the national curriculum documents after authorization by education experts in the Ministry.