Nawal Ibrahim Al Khater, Assistant Undersecretary for Policies, Strategies and Performance at the Education Ministry, has led the kingdom’s delegation participating in the 42nd session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) General Conference, held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris from November 7 to 22, with the participation of 194 member states.
António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, and Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General, in addition to a number of international figures, ministers, senior officials, specialists and experts in the fields of education, science and culture, were present.
While addressing the conference, Al Khater expressed the kingdom’s pride in its long-standing constructive and fruitful partnership with UNESCO, especially in the field of education, which consolidated the role of the UNESCO-King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Education.
She added that Bahrain commends UNESCO’s efforts aimed at improving the educational system, affirming the commitment of the kingdom, along with other member states, to supporting such endeavours to make education available to all peoples of the world and ensure its sustainability.
She reviewed the efforts made by the kingdom over the past period to develop education, including the restructuring of the Ministry of Education, the establishment of a unit to follow up on and develop the performance of schools, in addition to the implementation of the necessary plans and strategies to enhance teachers’ professional development and teaching methods, as well as develop school curricula to keep pace with global trends.
She also highlighted Bahrain’s interest in early education and the integration of students with special needs in government schools, noting that the kingdom has attained distinguished achievements in the school enrolment rate, as well as in combating illiteracy and dropping out of school.
The assistant undersecretary indicated that the kingdom has included the issues and concepts of the environment in school curricula and activities to raise the awareness of the school community of the need to protect the environment.
Al Khater affirmed that the kingdom is looking forward to enhancing its cooperation with UNESCO, wishing the conference every success in coming up with results and recommendations that support education.
Dr. Mubarak Buti, the Acting Secretary-General of the Bahrain National Commission for UNESCO, also took part in the meeting of the Secretaries-General of the National UNESCO Commissions, held on the sidelines of the 42nd UNESCO General Conference.
Source: Bahrain News Agency
