Bahrain was the first Gulf country to establish government-sponsored education in 1919 and it continues to invest in strengthening its education system. With Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 – the country’s economic diversification blueprint – and the National Higher Education Strategy 2014-24 guiding the kingdom’s schooling strategy, Bahrain is expanding its public education infrastructure, and backing technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes to upskill its workforce for the future.
In the health care space, Bahrain has a long life expectancy and its disease burden is mostly related to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), a trend common among wealthier countries. With continued investment in both public and private health care, the kingdom continues to improve its health service delivery.
Education Oversight
The Ministry of Education (MoE) is responsible for providing oversight to the education sector, with Mohammed Mubarak Juma serving as minister since November 2022. There are directorates for each level and type of learning, ranging from kindergarten and primary, and extending to vocational and continuous education. Basic schooling is both compulsory and free for students aged six to 14, and is segregated by gender.
The Higher Education Council (HEC) was formed in 2005 and coordinates the kingdom’s tertiary education policy. The Education and Training Quality Authority (BQA) sets performance standards and carries out reviews of educational institutions.
Education Policy & Budget
Education strategy is guided by Bahrain Economic Vision 2030. Its education-focused policies centre around teacher training and recruitment, the preparation of Bahrainis for employment in emerging industries, the regular review of the performance of educational institutions, and the development of the kingdom’s higher education and research institutions. In addition, the ministry, along with Bahrain Teachers College (BTC), is pursuing a Bahrainisation strategy for educators in government schools to replace expatriate teachers with qualified Bahrainis. The BTC hopes to be able to meet 80% of the MoE’s teacher needs by 2030.
Bahrain’s tertiary education policy is guided by the National Higher Education Strategy 2014-24. Its primary goals include mandating college entrance and workforce readiness exams; developing more flexible options in the academic calendar to spur competitiveness; increasing enrolment of foreign students; and encouraging students to pursue science, technology, engineering and maths degrees.
Another development in the education sector was the July 2022 update of the National Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for the years 2022-26, led by the Ministry of Labour. The plan will fund civil rehabilitation centres and life skills programmes for people with autism. As of April 2022 Bahrain had integrated 134 students with autism into government schools, up from 11 in 2010.
According to the most recent official figures, education spending earmarked for 2022 in FY 2021/22 increased by around 1% to BD331.7m ($879.8m), including both recurrent and project expenditures. While the value was relatively consistent from the previous budget, it represented 9.3% of total spending, making it one of the largest recipients by sector.
Student Body
In the 2018/19 academic year there were 115,125 students enrolled at the primary level – 72,074 in government schools and 43,051 in private schools – of which 49.1% were female and 50.9% were male, according to the most recent statistics from the MoE. At the intermediate level, the breakdown was 37,048 in government schools and 15,263 in private schools, for a total of 52,311 students, with female students comprising 49.4% and male students 50.6% of the total. Meanwhile, of the 39,076 students at general secondary schools, 27,697 were enrolled in government schools and 11,379 at private schools, with 56% of the total female students. Technical and vocational secondary students, for their part, numbered 6814 – all in government institutions – with approximately 90% of learners male. These gender breakdowns have remained consistent from previous findings, with roughly the same male-to-female ratios across all types of educational institutions in 2014/15, the last time such statistics were released.
Education Performance
In 2022, 97.3% students in secondary schools passed their final exams. For intermediate students that percentage was 98.3%, while 87.9% of students enrolled in vocational and technical schools passed their final exams.
Stronger performance on international standardised exams such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and the Programme for International Student Assessment and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is explicitly cited in the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 educational goals. On such exams, Bahrain tends to be one of the leaders in the region. In 2019, the year of the most recent TIMSS test – which is administered every four years – Bahrain ranked a close second in the GCC for fourth-grade mathematics, with a score of 480, above the regional average of 437 for that year. In the 2021 PIRLS, Bahraini students scored an average of 458, marking an increase of 12 points from the previous result in 2016. This result placed Bahrain third among GCC countries, after Qatar and the UAE. However, the score was 42 points lower than the global average.
Bahrain has a high literacy rate, at around 97.5% of those aged 15 and above as of 2018, according to the most recent data from the World Bank. This figure is a substantial improvement from roughly 70% at the beginning of the 1980s and higher than the global average of 86% at the time. According to the latest UNESCO data, in 2019 Bahrain had an out-of-school rate of 2.3% for primary school students and 12.7% for those enrolled in upper secondary school, significantly lower than the Middle East average of 10% and 24.8%, respectively. The same year the proportion of students at the end of primary education achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in mathematics was 54.2%, compared to a Middle East average of 28.6%.
Education Infrastructure
In the 2018/19 academic year 210 government schools were operational, comprising 111 primary schools, 22 elementary or middle schools, 38 preparatory schools, 30 high schools or other tracks, six vocational and technical training institutions, and three religious institutes, according to the most recent data from the MoE. That year there were 14,103 teachers and administrative staff employed across all public schools. Of the private institutions operating in Bahrain in the 2018/19 academic year, there were 71 nurseries, 130 kindergartens and 70 other facilities. That year there were 8283 teachers and administrative staff employed at private institutions.
The number of government schools is set to expand substantially over the coming years. In November 2022 the MoE announced that it would invest BD118.3m ($313.8m) to construct 18 new schools and 24 academic buildings by 2030. Of these, two schools and nine academic buildings will be built in the Capital Governorate, along with five schools and seven academic buildings in the Muharraq Governorate, three schools and four academic buildings in the Southern Governorate, as well as eight schools and four academic buildings in the Northern Governorate.
The Bahrain Real Estate Investment Company (Edamah), a unit of the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat, completed phase one of construction of a comprehensive education park, Amanat Edu Safe Park, in June 2022. The 16,000-sq-metre facility will partner with education institutions to offer extracurricular activities in liberal arts, technology and robotics, as well as special needs educational programmes. The park features green spaces with jogging tracks, walkways and outdoor scientific installations, and its expansive facilities will be available to lease for lectures, workshops, training programmes, and theatre and art productions. Parents will also be able to earn certificates in vocational skills programmes supported by the Training and Wage Support Scheme while their children are engaged in activities. The scheme is operated by Tamkeen, the semi-autonomous state agency charged with developing the private sector.
Learning Ecosystem
The government is responsible for providing early childhood education starting from three years of age. For students from the ages of six to 12, parents can choose between enrolling their children in a general primary school or a religious one. For ages 12 to 15, students are enrolled in either religious or general preparatory education.
At age 15, students have the option of enrolling in three years of religious or general secondary education or two to three years of technical and vocational training. At this point students are able to either choose to enter the workforce, pursue tertiary education or enrol in a one-year diploma. As an alternative, they can enrol in a two-year post-secondary training programme.
Private schools in Bahrain fall into three categories: those catered towards Bahraini nationals, expatriate students, or a specific segment of the foreign community. Among schools in the international community, there are a variety of languages of instruction and curricula offered, including the national curricula of Australia, India, the UK and the US, as well as the International Baccalaureate (IB).
St Christopher’s School, established in 1961, is one of the most well-known institutions offering the UK curriculum in the kingdom, along with the British School of Bahrain, which was acquired by the London-based Inspire Education Group in 2018. IB is taught at Ibn Khuldoon National School and Modern Knowledge Schools, among others. The Multinational School Bahrain implements the Australian curriculum, while the AMA International School and the Bahrain Bayan School both apply the US curriculum. In addition, US military personnel are able to enrol their children in the Department of Defence Education Activity school. India’s national curriculum is taught in English at the Bahrain Indian School as well as The Asian School.
BQA reviews of government and private schools revealed that while the private sector has fewer schools that are rated “inadequate,” the public sector has more “outstanding” schools. Among government schools reviewed by the BQA in 2020, 49% received an “inadequate” rating, 18% received a “satisfactory” rating, 18% received a “good” rating and 13% received an “outstanding” rating. Among all private schools reviewed by the BQA between 2019 and 2023, 31% received an “inadequate” rating, 47% received a “satisfactory” rating, 13% received a “good” rating and 9% received an “outstanding” rating.
Post-secondary
As of early 2023 three public universities, 15 private universities and one university governed by the GCC – Arabian Gulf University – were accredited by the HEC. The country’s public higher education institutions are the University of Bahrain, Bahrain Polytechnic and Bahrain Training Institute. Private universities include the American University of Bahrain, Euro University of Bahrain, Applied Science University and the University of Technology Bahrain.
Across Bahrain’s universities there are 40 bachelor’s business degree programmes with multiple specialisations, with Ahlia University and Applied Science University offering master’s of business administration programmes. In the 2023 QS university rankings for the Arab region, Applied Science University was ranked in the top 20 universities at 19th. Several foreign universities that offer degrees in Bahrain include the British University of Bahrain, Applied Science University, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland – Medical University of Bahrain, which opened its doors in 2004 and now has 1300 active students, and Gulf University.
In line with its 2021-25 strategy to upskill the Bahraini workforce, the Tamkeen labour fund signed a series of TVET training agreements in 2022 to help meet these goals. In May of that year Tamkeen launched a partnership with the US-based SANS Institute to provide cybersecurity training for 200 Bahraini graduates over two years, and in February 2023 Tamkeen announced the beginning of phase two of the programme. The year 2022 also saw Tamkeen sign agreements with telecommunications company Zain Bahrain, the General Assembly technology training academy, the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance, and Bahrain Polytechnic to train Bahrainis in ICT skills such as user interface design, user experience design, artificial intelligence and data science.
Learning Technology
Bahrain worked with the US-based non-profit organisation International Society for Technology in Education before the transition to online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic to train teaching staff to use education technology (edtech) to improve learning outcomes. Edtech, which is projected to be a $500bn industry globally by 2027, is a crucial element in the National Higher Education Strategy 2014-24, overseen by HEC. The strategy calls for public-private partnerships in edtech, the provision of e-learning channels to prepare prospective university students for entrance exams and the implementation of edtech training for all higher education teachers.
In November 2022 Bahraini company TechoSmart for IT Services announced a partnership with UAE-based electronic educational services company Mo3lim. Both organisations have expressed hope that the partnership will support the kingdom’s educational system within the broader framework of digital transformation and Bahrain Economic Vision 2030.
Health Oversight
The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) sets national strategy and direction for the sector, and the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) regulates private players. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health (MoH) – with Dr Jalila bint Al Sayyed Jawad Hassan serving as minister – provides free health care to all Bahraini nationals. The MoH operates a network of hospitals, clinics and speciality health centres.
Health Policy & Budget
Bahrain’s health strategy is guided by the National Health Plan (NHP) 2016-25. The most recent iteration of the plan, which covers 2021-25, regulates the sector in order to ensure safety and efficacy in both public and private providers. In addition to planning the 2023-24 rollout of the National Social Health Insurance Programme, also known as Sehati, the NHP 2016-25 established the Health Information and Knowledge Management Centre to gather, process and evaluate medical data.
Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 and the Economic Recovery Plan – implemented in October 2021 – also contain provisions pertaining to health. In the recovery plan, health initiatives are included in the $30bn in investment earmarked across 22 strategic projects. Bahrain Economic Vision 2030’s health goals include providing quick, easy and equitable access to quality health care, along with developing, attracting and retaining talent; and fostering a high-performance ethic among all employees in the sector.
Recent policy initiatives include negotiations to standardise medical professional licensing procedures with other GCC countries. A committee composed of health regulators of all GCC countries assigned by the Secretariat General of the GCC Health Council met in Bahrain in October 2022 to discuss unifying such procedures. The goal of the talks was to enable medical professionals to move between facilities in different GCC countries, while retaining their titles and having their qualifications recognised in a new country.
The budget for FY 2021/22 allocated BD297.9m ($790.2m) in health expenditure for the 2022 calendar year, down slightly from BD298.3m ($791.2m) in 2021. The NHRA received BD2.5m ($6.6m) in funding, while the SCH was allocated BD1.2m ($3.2m) and the remaining BD200,000 ($531,000) was earmarked for spending to cover emergency cases and treatment for Bahrainis abroad. For project-specific expenditure, the sector is slated to receive BD5.8m ($15.4m) in 2022 – BD1.8m ($4.8m) for the SCH and BD4m ($10.6m) for the MoH.
Indicators & Disease Burden
The UN Human Development Report 2021/22 revealed that Bahrain had a life expectancy of 78.8 years at birth – 80 for women and 77.8 for men. The global average life expectancy was 71.4 years at birth in 2021, and the average life expectancy among countries with very high human development indices was 78.5.
According to figures from the World Health Organisation, Bahrain had 8.4 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2016. In terms of total health professionals across the kingdom, in January 2022 Faeqa bint Saeed Al Saleh, then-minister of health, told Parliament that 4998 medical professionals were employed in MoH facilities. To highlight progress in the country’s Bahrainisation goals for the health sector, of the total, 3599 were Bahraini nationals and 1399 were expatriates. The total figure included 2945 nurses, 602 physicians, 385 consultant physicians, 276 pharmacists and 70 dentists.
Hospital capacity in Bahrain has expanded in recent years. The kingdom had 1.7 hospital beds per 1000 people as of 2017, 82.9% of which were in public hospitals. Capacity is expected to increase, as Kims Bahrain Healthcare (KBH) announced in March 2022 that work was ongoing for a new private 110-bed facility next to the Kims Health Hospital in Umm Al Hassam. In partnership with Clinea, a French health care firm, KBH will offer rehabilitative care for trauma patients and for those who have undergone major surgeries.
Bahrain has a high incidence of NCDs, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Diseases of the circulatory system were the leading cause of death in Bahrain in 2019, comprising 46.6% of total deaths that year, according to the most recent statistics from the MoH. Neoplasms, both benign and malignant tumours, were the second-largest cause of death, at 15.7%, followed by external causes (7%) and respiratory system diseases (6.1%). Bahrain has a low incidence of infectious and parasitic diseases due to its vaccine rate, which ranges from 96% to 100% depending on the vaccine.
Insurance
After three years of pandemic-related delays, Sehati, a social health insurance programme, is set to be launched for foreigners in 2023 and for Bahrainis in 2024. Sehati is the result of Law No. 23, known as the Health Insurance Law, which was passed in May 2018, and made health insurance coverage mandatory for all nationals, expatriates and visitors.
The launch of Sehati is expected to have a significant impact on private providers. The new insurance scheme is expected to increase competition between public and private facilities, and could potentially lead Bahrainis to shift much of their care to private health care providers. The Sehati system makes it more simple for nationals to gain access to private facilities by opting to pay a premium on their health insurance. Notably, the government covers 40% of the cost for those who opt to receive care in private facilities.
The insurance scheme is also expected to make health care options more streamlined for foreign workers, through a partnership between the SCH and insurance provider Aon Bahrain. Before the Sehati initiative, most expatriates registered for the basic cover system under the MoH for BD72 ($191) per year.
Mandatory coverage is required to cover primary health care, laboratory and radiology, rehabilitation, mental health, physiotherapy, nursing, medication, long-term stays and ambulance services. Optional coverage includes non-medical surgeries, dental care, private nursing and alternative medicine.
The scheme has three packages for Bahrainis: one that is free and mandatory, funded by the Social Health Insurance Fund Authority (SHIFA); a second that is subsidised by the government and provided by private facilities; and a third with the expense shared by the individual and employer. Expatriates are able to choose between the mandatory plan covered under both private organisations and SHIFA, and an optional plan with private companies only. Expatriates’ health insurance will be funded by their employer, and visitors are required to buy a mandatory package that gives them access to all government facilities under SHIFA.
Bahrainis can also receive service free of charge at government health facilities and have the option to pay a premium for access to private care. SHIFA covers the cost of treatment for citizens at public hospitals.
Technology & Innovation
Along with the new insurance scheme, the health authorities rolled out the Sehati card in July 2022. The chip-enabled cards contain patients’ medical history, test results, diagnoses and prescription details. This information is encrypted and only able to be read by medical professionals. The system allows patients to transfer medical information between public and private facilities and care providers. The cards were implemented under the umbrella of the Choose your Doctor scheme, which aims to facilitate smoother health care decisions and increase competition between medical providers. By easing the transfer of patients’ records and enabling patients to access all health services, the Sehati card system reduces barriers to switching between providers.
Developments in health technology can also be seen in partnerships with Israeli medical institutions – made possible by the 2020 Abraham Accords establishing relations between the two countries. In May 2022 Israeli firm KSM Research and Innovation partnered with Bahraini public hospitals to create a joint medical innovation ecosystem following a visit by the Israeli health minister in March of that year. The partnership seeks to foster the co-development of medical technology (medtech), and the institutions will collaborate on clinical research in women’s health, Covid-19, and trauma and emergency medicine. Israel’s Sheba Medical Centre is also partnering with American Mission Hospital to implement digital medicine.
Additionally, in January 2023 Canadian medical provider Asep Medical entered into a joint partnership with local investment consulting firm Seaspring to pursue regulatory approval and commercialisation of the provider’s sepsis diagnosis technology in the kingdom. That same month also saw the launch of Saleem Telemedicine – a subsidiary of Caresocius, a software organisation that connects individuals with health care providers, and operates in Bahrain, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.
Public & Private Care
As of March 2023 there were 10 government hospitals (including two maternity hospitals) and 27 primary health centres, with nine of the latter offering around-the-clock service. The introduction of 24-hour facilities has reduced the number of cases referred to public hospitals for urgent care, enabling them to focus on the most severe cases.
As of 2021 there were 21 private hospitals with 542 beds, 96 private clinics, 301 private medical centres and 136 dental facilities licensed by the NHRA. That year there were around 800 private health firms operating in the country. Services in the private sector tend to be more specialised than in the public sphere. “Bahrain’s health care ecosystem requires greater focus on patient-centred care. The most advanced health care entities in the world have made this shift, and it will be important for Bahrain to follow suit to improve standards. In this context, private entities have a responsibility to drive progress,” Dr George Cheriyan, CEO of American Mission Hospital, told OBG.
Several new private facilities have opened in recent years. In June 2022, Al Bayrooni Dialysis, a $1.4m facility and Bahrain’s first stand-alone dialysis centre for kidney diseases and conditions, was launched with support from the Bahrain Economic Development Board. That same month the Gulf Uro-Oncology Foundation, a cancer centre specialising in men’s health diagnostics, was opened at the Royal Bahrain Hospital. More recently, in January 2023 Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa inaugurated the King Hamad American Mission Hospital, a 72,000-sq-metre facility in A’Ali, the fifth and largest of the branches of American Mission Hospital.
Outlook
Bahrain’s universities attract students from around the world, although university affordability continues to be a challenge for some, with tuition fees being the leading concern for 61% of Bahraini parents in a 2022 survey conducted with 1500 GCC residents across Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Even so, the kingdom continues to make strides in helping both children and adults receive education and training to develop and work in an increasingly tech-based and knowledge-led economy. The government has made progress in terms of the Bahrainisation of the education sector, a long-standing priority for the kingdom.
Meanwhile, the upcoming rollout of the Sehati insurance scheme is a significant step forwards for the Bahraini health sector, with its emphasis on medtech providing citizens and residents the ability to choose their medical provider. The scheme’s full impact on the health sector remains to be seen, and cooperation between the public and private sectors will be important for its success. With the education and heath sectors projected to expand over the medium term and benefit from increased digitalisation, both will continue to present new opportunities for investment.
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