Parliament to debate proposal expanding access to academic research and studies

TDT | Manama

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A proposal to establish a ‘knowledge bank’ and develop public libraries will be debated in Parliament on Tuesday, with MPs asked to back a plan aimed at helping students and researchers reach scientific studies, academic research and reference material more quickly.

The recommendation was submitted by MP Munir Seroor and calls for upgrades to Bahrain’s public libraries alongside the creation of a central knowledge repository to support school and university students, as well as researchers.

Parliament’s Services Committee has urged the Council to approve the proposal, saying the public-interest grounds for it are sound.

State

The committee cited Article 7(a) of the Constitution, which states that the State sponsors sciences, literature and the arts, encourages scientific research, and guarantees educational and cultural services for citizens, including compulsory and free education in the early stages specified by law and a plan to eradicate illiteracy.

In its reasoning, the committee said Bahrain needs stronger public libraries and argued for a library in each governorate to help build reading habits among pupils and university students. It also said the proposal would support students and researchers by improving access to sources and references within a shorter time.

The explanatory memorandum accompanying the proposal praised the Ministry of Education’s work in supporting learning and developing students’ skills, and spoke highly of teaching staff and training programmes linked to career progression.

Books

It argued that Bahrain’s libraries hold valuable books and sources that can serve a wider public if development plans are clearer, library numbers increase, and services are strengthened, especially for school pupils.

The memorandum also called for more printed works to be made available in electronic form, with devices provided to ease access. It said postgraduate students, in particular, need reliable access to sources, studies and books to speed up thesis work, and argued that research holdings should be updated on an ongoing basis.

It also urged better use of the theses produced each year by researchers, saying they can offer practical ideas for improving government work, while adding to Bahrain’s library collections across a wide range of fields.

Services

In written comments to the Services Committee, the Ministry of Education welcomed proposals aimed at improving educational and knowledge services and said it has been working, within available resources and under Law No. 27 of 2005 on Education, to establish and develop Knowledge Resource Centres, which function as public libraries, across Bahrain’s governorates.

The ministry said eight centres operate across the four governorates on morning and evening shifts, with modern facilities and search tools, alongside large collections of books, references and periodicals. It added that these centres are updated with new publications under the standards used for depositing works.

It said it has started making the unified catalogue of the centres’ holdings available online, allowing automated searches through library systems used for cataloguing and classification.

QR code

It also said QR code services help users reach electronic books and references, including some digital books.

The ministry added that its online services, available through its website and the national eGovernment portal, allow the public to view holdings such as books, periodicals and theses, reserve items, borrow them and renew loans electronically.

It said collections are supplied with print and electronic publications based on assessments of users’ reading needs and data on requested content, with standards applied for information quality, data accuracy and language integrity, while taking account of the culture of Bahraini society.