No expat hires since 2019

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

The Ministry of Education said it has not hired any non-Bahraini staff since 2019, citing a Bahrainisation scheme under which expatriate staff are being replaced in stages and their contracts ended over time. In its reply to remarks in the National Audit Office’s 2024-2025 annual report, the ministry also defended spending above budget.

It said it provides core public services and cannot delay spending when there is a shortfall or urgent need in teaching services or classroom provision.

Spending

It added that teacher hiring had also pushed spending beyond the amount first allocated.

The ministry said many older computers were not repaired because they had reached the end of their working life. It said it had already secured approval from the Ministry of Finance and National Economy to replace them with new machines.

It also said it had carried out the recommendation on counting electronic assets.

According to the ministry, it already uses a dedicated system to record all assets, and electronic assets are now counted separately from other items.

Cloud

On its digital systems, the ministry said it was among the first state bodies to move towards cloud storage.

It added that it has a specialist unit that tracks risk in coordination with the Information & eGovernment Authority.

Recent tests, it said, showed the systems were ready for heavy use, with figures indicating that about 83 per cent of students across Bahrain could use the platform at the same time.