Expat students waste a year

Manama : Several expat students will have to wait for another year before they are admitted into UKG and Grade I because of the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) minimum admission age stipulation.
Earlier this year, the MoE had stipulated 6 years (as of March 31) as the minimum age for Grade I admissions. This contrasts with the admission procedures in India and Pakistan where the minimum age requirement is between 5-7 years.
A month after schools affected by the minimum age stipulation requested to make an exception for students following the Indian or Pakistani curriculum, many pupils living in or those recently transferred to the Kingdom have ultimately been denied admissions and also undergone the non-registration process.
Prince S. Natrajan, Chairman of the Indian School Bahrain said: “While we understand the concerns that parents are facing at this stage, it is important to see the reason behind such changes too. Students only have to wait for a couple of months before another academic term starts and they will be much more ready to come back to school.
“We had several discussions with the relevant authorities and decided that it was important to practice a uniform age system within a country. We have started to follow the new rules and admit students accordingly,” he added.
Meanwhile, DT News spoke to parents who have finally accepted the situation after months of struggling to seek admissions for their wards in the Kingdom. Many of them are planning to shift their country of residence for a year to ensure uninterrupted education for their children.
One of the parents said: “My ward has been denied admissions as she exceeded the age restriction by two months. It is quite stressful and I don’t want my child to sit idle for an entire year so I have decided to move back with her while my partner works here.
“The schools should have held more inclusive meetings so we were clear about the issue from the beginning and made arrangements in time.”
The new rules call for a pupil’s age to be determined with original birth certificates as proof and if the certificate indicates the student’s birth date exceeds December 31 2011, the Ministry requires a non-registration of the primary student.