7- Whilst the Child Rights Law determined for the age of the child to be eighteen years pursuant to Article Four thereof, and stipulates that it is necessary for the higher interests of the child to garner priority in all the decisions and procedures related to childhood, this demands amending the legislation related to regulating education, that is amending Law Number (27) for the year 2005 concerning education and particularly the texts of Articles Numbers (1), (6) and (7), so as to be compatible with the Child Rights Law, whereby the compulsory age ends upon the student reaching the age of eighteen, and thus the compulsory education is from the elementary stage until the end of the secondary stage, particularly given that secondary education represents an increasing source of concern and a considerable challenge for the policymakers and researchers throughout the world given its great and growing significance in the formation of cohesive, sound and advanced societies which desire to energize economic growth, in addition to being an embodiment of a critical and important stage in the educational system, given that it represents a means of connection between the basic education in its first and second stages (that is the elementary and preparatory stages) and higher education, in addition to being an intersection between the educational system and the job market. Hence, the best interests of the child demand for education in the secondary school stage to be compulsory. 8- By referring to the general commentary Number (11) concerning Article Number (14) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), 16 related to the action plans for elementary education, we find that Paragraph Number (6) thereof defined the term compulsory and explained that the element of being compulsory aims to highlight that it is not the right of the parents or guardians or the state to look into the decision related to providing elementary education to the child as though it were an optional decision. This requirement also emphasizes the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of gender as relates to providing education, such pursuant to Articles numbers (2) and (3) of the Covenant. 17 ‫اﻟﺘﻘﺮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻨﻮي اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ‬ ‫ﻟﻠﻤﺆﺳﺴﺔ اﻟﻮﻃﻨﻴﺔ ﻟﺤﻘﻮق اﻧﺴﻨﺎم‬ ‫ ـ ﻣﻤﻠﻜﺔ اﻟﺒﺤﺮﻳﻦ‬2015 ‫ﻟﻌﺎم‬ 9- The element of compulsoriness in the stage of secondary education will be focused on explaining that the parents, guardians or state are not entitled to look into the decision related to providing secondary education to the child as though it were optional, whereby the completion of the child of his education in this stage is considered a basic right of the child and an overriding interest which requires penalizing one who deprives the child or his guardian of completing his secondary education, pursuant to Article Number (8) of the Law Number (27) for 2005 concerning education. 10- Moreover, the same meaning was alluded to by Article Number (13) in Paragraph (b) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) as related to secondary education where it stipulated the necessity of “(b) Secondary education in its different forms, including technical and vocational secondary education, shall be made generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education;”, and the general commentary explains concerning the same article that the aim of this stage is to complete the basic education and to lay the foundation for ongoing education and to develop the human and prepare him for professional life and for the stage of higher education. 18 16 Kingdom of Bahrain acceded to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights pursuant to Law Number (10) for the year 2007. 17  General Comment Number 11: Action plans for the sake of elementary education (Article 14), twentieth session (1999) Committee of Eco nomic, Social and Cultural Rights- Doc. Number (E/C12/1999/4). 18  General Comment Number 13- twenty first session (1999), the right to education (Article 13). Committee of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Doc. Number (E/C12/1999/10). 54