Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): An official report issued two years ago on the behavioral problems of students at Hamad Town Intermediate Girls School confirms that the Ministry of Education has not made the necessary efforts to combat the students' unacceptable behavior.

Two years ago, the Education and Training Quality Authority recommended that the Ministry of Education "rapidly intervene to counter the blatant decline in most areas of schooling at Hamad Town Intermediate Girls School," but nothing was done.

The same problems persisted on the level of achievement and that of school behavior of female students. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education did not provide sufficient support for the school administration's efforts, so progress was insufficient to face the school's problems, which received an "inadequate" evaluation.

The Education and Training Quality Authority commented on what was provided by the ministry saying that "the exerted efforts and the support from the relevant parties in the ministry were not reflected enough on areas of school work, except for what was achieved in terms of improving school leadership."

Based on the review of the school's performance in December 2016, the authority called for "supporting and assisting all classes of students in lessons and the school program in a fashion that would ensure the enhancement of their positive behavior."

After almost one year, the school said that it took several measures to ensure improving the students' behavior; however, the Authority found that the progress was not sufficient to address the behavioral problems.

The school said that it had prepared brochures for the students, and studied their cases and behavioral problems, but the Authority indicated that there were disparities in the commitment of students to the school regulations and rules, and their respectful treatment of their teachers and schoolmates. There was also a disparity in their listening to the Holy Quran during the morning queue, as well as tardiness after the second recess.

In response to the school's actions in the field of education, the report pointed out to "the limited educational support given to students of different classes, which have been confined, mostly, to groups, without focusing on students with low education."

"The difference between students was not adequately reflected in teaching activities, which has limited their progress, in addition to the limitations of the support given to students with learning difficulties in their own program," the report said.

Although the Authority warned in 2016 of the deteriorating behavior of students in school, the school did not succeed in significantly improving their behavior, and the Authority noted "a slight improvement in the general behavior of most students, especially in the classroom, and a decrease in number of students with recurring behavioral problems."

While the report pointed out the limited number of top students, the report said that the students achieved "low and poor proficiency ratios in all main subjects during the scholastic year 2016-2017, ranging from 15% to 37%, the lowest of which was in third grade science, excluding the Arabic language only, whose percentage reached 55% in the same class."

The issues of the Lyrica drug and the practice of immoral acts in school weren't probably taking place when the Authority prepared its reports; however, the reports clearly indicate problems related to behavior and low level of educational achievement at school.

The report also mentioned that there is shortage in human resources and social counsellor staff, which should be responsible for studying and following the behavioral problems of students.

This information should lead to putting the Ministry of Education under investigation and hold it accountable in the Hamad Town School case, not appointing Minister Majid Al-Nuaimi as a member in an investigation committee, as he should be a suspect and not a judge.

Arabic Version