Education matters

There are 62 private schools in Bahrain, all happily taking in children at this time of year to be certain that they can stay afloat as a business and whilst the panic of finding a school place is well and truly underway, parents need to consider a few important factors before they assign their offspring to the first school that offers them a place.

Affordability – Be certain that you can afford the fees of your chosen school before you sign up. Many parents know the pain of finding school fees every term and secretly dread the invoice coming home with their child from school. An important factor to remember here is that paying for private education is a continuous drain on the pocket for example, uniforms, books and trips do not come cheap so be certain that your budget can match your choice.

Value for Money – So, once you’ve worked out that you can afford the school of your choice, do you actually know what you get for your money?  There are many ways of measuring how your child is progressing year on year, but these aren’t always down to just academics, how your child develops socially and personally is equally as important too so parents need to be asking how forthright schools are in promoting these. For example, does the school give opportunities for students to demonstrate other skills such as PE, drama, public speaking or music? 

Academics – We’ve already mentioned the importance of academics to measure progress of children, but don’t be fooled by the results that schools pertain to reach, particularly if there is no way of actually comparing one school’s exam results with another. In many schools out here the same teacher sets and then marks the same exams for their class and no one questions it when the students score incredibly high grades. The parents won’t question it because their little darlings look geniuses and the school won’t question the practice because they appear to be offering incredible value to parents.

Values – It is really easy to write a mission statement about a school that states how caring and positive they are in their quest to shape the minds of the next generation, but an experienced Head Teacher will tell you that these types of statements aren’t worth the paper they are written on if their meaning does not ooze out of every classroom, textbook, assembly and school report. So as prospective parents consider this, if the school says it provides a caring environment, have a quick look around when you visit, if there are no fire extinguishers or the building needs some tender loving care, you can be pretty certain that the management of the school are more caring about themselves than they are about your children.

So, a lot of things to think about, and once you have done your homework, there is often an entrance exam to contend with as well, but more about that next week. Choosing a school for your children can be difficult, but often the best people to ask when it comes to choosing a school are the parents who send their children there already and the children who attend. They will give you a truer picture than any school brochure will.

See how the Ministry for Education and the Education and Training Quality Authority view individual schools by visiting https://www.bqa.gov.bh/en/reports/schoolsreports

Conference call for English teachers

The Bahrain English Language Teaching (ELT) Professionals Network is organising its sixth annual conference on Saturday, April 29, at Bahrain Polytechnic.

The conference which attracts over 300 teaching professionals in Bahrain will be held under the theme ELT: Teachers as Learners. This event provides a platform that brings together English teachers and educators to share experiences and enhance their teaching skills.

Keynote speakers for the conference are Adrian Tennant, a freelance teacher trainer, writer and consultant from the UK, and Nicky Hockly, director of pedagogy of The Consultants-E, ELT consultant and trainer and author from Spain. Additionally, the conference will have 15 speakers in total.

Participants will also have access to the latest ELT publications at the exhibition from international publishers such as Express Publishing, Macmillan, and National Geographic Learning. 

The conference is sponsored by the British Council, the American Embassy, Dar Al Ma’rifa English Language Centre, CrediMax, and Ahlia University as well as Tamkeen; this year’s conference strategic partner.

The Bahrain ELT Professionals Network aims to help educators in the field of English language teaching to share information, to find working partners and to collaborate on events and projects.

For registration information, visit the British Council during office hours, or call 17266166.