It's never too late to learn

Now is the chance to consider broadening your horizons and putting those brain cells to good use by studying what courses are available in the kingdom's growing number of centres of education.

Expats and Bahrainis are finding that it is never too late to learn and many take advantage of their lives living in the Gulf to further enrich their skills and knowledge base.

Adult education, for example, features high in Saar resident Deidre McGill's life. The 45-year-old Australian is a trained nurse, midwife and has a bachelor's degree in health science.

Although she joined the workforce after finishing college she continued to take up courses to update her skills to fulfil her hunger for knowledge.

Whether it was marriage or the arrival of her three children at regular intervals, Deidre never lost touch with her vocation.

She completed numerous diploma and certificate courses in naturopathy, management and project management and is presently looking to register in a two-year intensive Master's Degree of Health Care Management at the Medical University of Bahrain in September.

"Education for me was the answer to meet the challenge of the next step whether it was a horizontal step or a vertical one. The key to meet my challenge, exceed it and then move on the next step was to formalise my years of working through education which really broadened my horizons," said Deidre.

"Adult education is undervalued in the workplace. But constant upgrading of skills and knowledge is required to meet the benchmarks in the health sector.

"Also, consumers around the world with a multitude of requirements are becoming aware and need experts to deal with them rather than people who have outdated knowledge."