Schools to decide on Ramadan opening

EDUCATION chiefs in Bahrain have decided to allow individual private school governing bodies to decide whether pupils return to class during Ramadan.

Government schools will remain shut throughout the Holy Month which will result in a summer break of 11 weeks.

At one stage it looked like the authorities would rule that all private schools in the kingdom follow suit but it appears they have listened to concerns raised by several top private schools about pupils missing examination preparation.

Ayesha Khalid, senior information specialist for the Education Ministry, said: "It will be up to individual private schools to make a decision over the length of the summer break."

All schools in the kingdom were set to close for the main holidays by early July and under the new directive government schools will remain closed until after Eid Al Fitr.

St Christopher's School, the British School and The Bahrain Bayan School will reopen as originally planned in the first week of September, more than two weeks earlier than their government-run counterparts. The Indian School, New Indian School and the Asian School, however, are all extending their summer term and will not close until July 15 and will start the new school year after the Eid break.