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GUIDLINES ON EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE
The expatriate employment contract agreement provides for payment of the cost of education by the government, subject to the submission of receipts or other verification, when there are valid reasons to support the education of dependent children in scholastic instructions other than in the local public school system. Attendance in the government free school system is practical only for children who speak Arabic, or whose education process would not be disrupted as a result of changing from non-Arabic schools to the Bahrain public school system. Children from a non-Arab country qualify because of the fact that they are from, and will return to, a non-Arabic speaking country. Children coming from another Arabic speaking country will fall into one of the following categories:
- Those dependent children who will enter Grade 1 of primary school level in Bahrain, will be provided free enrollment to the Government school system for Arab speaking children. Thus, they do not quality for educational assistance.
- Those dependent children who have spent their entire school enrollment in a non-Arabic school will qualify for education allowance upon arrival in Bahrain, provided records are presented to verify that the total education was in a non-Arabic speaking school.
- Those dependent children who prior to arrival in Bahrain had been educated in both Arabic speaking schools and non-Arabic speaking schools will qualify for education allowance; provided records are presented to verify that at least the last three years school attendance had been in a non-Arabic speaking school. For those with less than three years total school, the year immediately proceeding entry into Bahrain must have been spent in a in non-Arabic speaking school.
Valid reasons for paying the cost of education must meet the qualification criteria above, as well as other specific conditions in the contract limiting the number of children and amount of allowance.
As stated in the contract, the employing ministry will pay for the actual cost of education. The intent of actual cost of education is to cover items directly related to the curriculum and physical conditions incident to attendance at the school. Specifically, tuition, hoard and rooms, books, (and other media aids), bus transportation, required school uniforms, examination fees, medical funds and insurance plans and other miscellaneous fees required of all students are considered a part of actual cost of education.
Optional expense items, fines, late or breakage charges, snacks and extra-curricular activities are not part of actual cost of education end are not paid. It is not possible to list or categorize all conceivable cost items. The general rule applicable on a case-by-case basis is that required expenses incident to school attendance are considered actual costs, while optional, personal, or penalty items are not covered. Sundries and general miscellaneous charges will not be paid without adequate explanation by the school relating to the above criteria.
Cost of education is not authorized in the contract for pre-school children. Pre-school institutions, regardless of the name used, primarily provide nursery and play activities. Pre-school does not automatically exclude everything prior to the Grade 1, Primary level. Likewise pre-school does not automatically include everything higher than nursery school. Distinction needs to be made between pre-school and pre-primary school. In order to qualify as a pre-primary school, institutions must provide a class syllabus covering as a minimum, elementary reading and arithmetic. While the specific minimum age will vary with the institutions, a child less than 4 years of age will be considered pre-school age in all cases. The grant may be paid in the case of the 4 years old child who reaches the age of 5 in the school year, only if it can be shown by the school that the minimum elements of education are included in the class instruction.
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