He also called for the need to build a strong educational and media front to face the rampant violence against educational establishments, which is contrary to all religious values and social, legal and human norms, denouncing strongly the recurring attacks against schools, undermining the security and safety of the residents of all neighbourhoods in which they are located.
He was speaking as he opened, at the Education Ministry’s Hall in Isa Town, the National Symposium on the Role of Schools in Confronting Violence and Sabotage, organised by the Islamic Cultural, Educational, and Scientific Conference Organization (ICESCO) in association with the Bahrain Educational, Scientific and Cultural Commission (BESCC).
In his opening statement, Dr. Al-Nuaimi welcomed ICESCO Director-General Dr. Abdulaziz bin Othman Al-Tuwaijri, expressing sincere appreciation and gratitude to ICESCO for organising the symposium, along with BESCC.
He said that the event would have discussed issues related to improving schools’ performance and upgrading the quality of the learning process, but organisers decided to tackle the topic of violence, which reached unprecedented levels since the outbreak of the regretful incidents of February, 2011, jeopardizing schools, stressing that violence is alien to the civilized, pacifist and tolerant Bahraini society.
He said that acts of violence against schools included depriving students from their right to education through the refusal of thousands of teachers to provide the educational service, guaranteed by the constitution for “purely political reasons; involving students in political and sectarian conflicts within their schools, which undermines the deep-rooted values of peaceful co-existence between members of the Bahraini society and violates human values as some refused to sell food and water to students from different sects or ethnicities; targeting schools while students are studying through arson, vandalizing facilities, stealing fire extinguishers from labs and throwing Molotov cocktails and incendiary bodies and locking schools from outside with chains and padlocks, blocking roads leading to them and pouring oil at their entrances in a desperate attempt to prevent teachers and students from reaching their schools so as to be able to achieve their political and sectarian agendas, citing some sides’ pride in preventing 12 schools from opening since February 14, 2011, and keenness to call such heinous act as “a great revolutionary achievement.”
The Minister underlined that Bahrain has succeeded to overcome the repercussions of violence and was able to ensure education for students thanks to the wisdom of its leadership and support of the educational staff and all segments of the civil society.
He added that the Education Ministry’s “painful but honourable” experience was recorded in booklets.
He affirmed that the Ministry has exerted tremendous efforts to raise awareness and activate tolerance-consolidating activities, and cooperated with UNESCO and other related organisations to develop educational curricular related to citizenship and human rights.
More than 300 education experts and specialists are attending the three-day symposium aiming to The aim is to elaborate a framework for official authorities to coordinate with non-governmental institutions and the media in confronting the scourge of violence and sabotage targeting schools.
The Ministry has so far reported 192 attacks on schools as part of a campaign of sabotage which cost the state over BD2 million.
The participants will also discuss the influence of social media on students’ cognitive orientations and behaviour.