Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Could the long wait for an admission to premier schools in Bahrain be a thing of the past? For the first time in many years newspaper and magazine advertisements are being placed alongside notices in supermarkets highlighting the availability of places at primary school level.
Although student counts remain consistent, some school administrators admit to losing pupils because of the recent unrest in the country and have delved into their extensive waiting lists to make up the numbers.
Up until recently, parents wanting to find places had to pay to register in the faint hope their child would be allowed to sit an admission test and others were simply turned away because the waiting lists were so long.
Ed Goodwin, principal of St Christopher’s School, which has a student population of more than 2,000, said that the numbers enrolled this year are almost identical to that of the previous year.
He added: “Over the last two years the school has made substantial efforts to reduce the size of the waiting pool. A situation had arisen, due to low numbers of pupils leaving, whereby the pool had grown too large, implying excessive waiting time for some parents.
“Accordingly, we had to inform many potential applicants that we could not accept an application at that time, on the basis that to accept would be to give an unreasonable expectation to parents of gaining a place.
“This measure has been successful and we now anticipate a good balance between those leaving and new students joining. For this reason, we are now able to accept applications for virtually all year groups at the school.
“With regard to the actual number of families who will leave Bahrain at the end of this school year, we have no indication that this will be any greater than in other years.”
A sense of panic erupted last year particularly for senior students sitting for their 10th and 12th board exams in the Indian curriculum schools, which are scheduled in March and April every year.
The New Millennium School-DPS in Zinj said that a slight movement in the number of pupils enrolled is a normal phenomenon every year and although their present population is higher than last year, the school admits to having faced a marginally higher number of students relocating to neighbouring Gulf States or back to India.
British curriculum schools also faced a dilemma with GCSE Art and Design Technology exams beginning around the same time and parents remain concerned about the possibility of further disruption to schooling on the anniversary of the unrest later this month.
The British School of Bahrain said it lost 64 students at the end of the second term in March-April last year but with long waiting lists of pupils wishing to attend, 43 places were snapped up almost instantly.
Currently the British School of Bahrain’s strength is growing with more than 1,600 students on its rolls and it is now advertising for children to sign up for its popular sports and performing arts after-school academies.
Officials say it is full in most infant and junior classes and remaining places will be taken by students currently taking admission tests. Karen Moffat, head of the British School of Bahrain, said: “We are optimistic in our projections for next year and, unless things change drastically in Bahrain over the next couple of months, we are looking forward to another good year in 2012-2013.”
