Dr. Al Nuaimi said that the probe committees investigated the cases of employees involved in the unrest and submitted recommendation to suspend them and refer them to the Civil Service Bureau to face action, adding that the decision of suspending a total 111 employees so far and referred to the Civil Service Bureau to face legal action came under the article of 22 of the law no. 48 on civil service for 2010.
Education Minister said in an interview with Bahrain News Agency (BNA) that the call to strike by the former Bahrain Teachers’ Society (BTS) was as part of political incitement.
“BTS went against all purposes of its missions that aimed to the public benefits of encouraging the teaching force and coordinate the efforts of developing positive energies that would serve the society better”, he added.
BTS did not adhered its statute, turning its course towards political objectives that serve the goals and ambitions of a particular sector through its call of strike for political reasons in a bid to cripple schools and at whole the education system of the Kingdom, placed them under condemns of explicit violations that abused the rights of children and students secured by the Education Constitution.
Following is the full text of the Minister’s interview with BNA.
BNA asked the minister how did the ministry delt with unfortunate events imposed on Bahraini schools during the previous period? How did the ministry evaluate the results of this situation?
The minister said calling for strike by BST created political agitation in the Kingdom. BST was formed to create the cooperation and unity among different categories of Bahraini people in coordination with the Ministry but unfortunately they did not commit to its main goal and turn to be political association and worked clearly with Al Wefaq Society. They addressed their call to strike to all teachers, school management, staff and administrators, workers and specialists in public and private schools, universities and even kindergartens inside the education sector, causing major damages to the educational process in the Kingdom which is against law and constitution.
Answering a question on the actions being taken by the ministry to deal with this situation, the minister said from day way and in an attempt to fill the shortage happened due to the strike, the ministry called educational professionals to cover the shortfall in the number of teachers in some schools due to the shortage of teachers and to maintain the normal educational function. In the second day of the strike we were overwhelmed by the number of volunteers who came spontaneously enhanced with national motives to fill the shortage because they believe that education is a noble message must be extended through generation away from politics. The ministry selected the most qualified volunteers to carry on the educational process through opening many offices to receive their applications. And on second day when the teachers association called to halt the strike and not to end it, the Ministry issued directives to give the real teachers and not the volunteers the responsibility of teaching and considered volunteers part of the reserve manpower. The teaching association called for another strike and in this time they asked students to leave schools, calling parents not to bring their children to schools, claiming that they will be safe under Civil laws. The Civil law in the Kingdom fires teachers who strike during working hours because it is contradicts with the local and international laws and regulations.
The Ministry of Education seeks to develop a qualitative education system to reach a high degree of excellence and creativity. This vision emanates from the Islamic religion’s lofty principles and values and the Kingdom of Bahrain’s interaction with the human civilization and its Arab belonging to satisfy the requirements of continues development that conforms with the international standards, as stated in the Kingdom’s constitution.
The Ministry provides educational opportunities for every citizen to develop his/her mental, physical and emotional potentials and skills through drawing up development plans, their implementation and evaluation to achieve the requirements of quality to enhance the quality and effectiveness of education in line with the international standards as stated in the Education Law, Higher Education Law and Private Education Institutions Law in the Kingdom of Bahrain.