Requirement Three Digital Transformation in the Education Sector Section One: Services provided by the Ministry of Education 1. In its reply, the Ministry of Education asserted that it considers education to be one of the basic rights guaranteed by all international and regional instruments and conventions. Simultaneously, it is an indispensable means of realizing other human rights. Education, as an enabling right, is the main tool through which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can get out of poverty. Education also has a vital role in empowering women and protecting children from exploitation in all its forms. 2. The Ministry clarified that digital transformation in the Kingdom of Bahrain is one of the main initiatives towards implementing the “Bahrain Economic Vision 2030” in accordance with the objectives of the comprehensive development process. Several steps have been taken to ensure the promotion of digital transformation in the public sector and focus on developing services and serving the citizen, in line with the Government’s program. The Ministry has implemented several services years ago, some of which are available on the website only, some are available on smart phones, while other services are on self-service platforms. These services target four groups (graduate students, school students, university graduates and the public). 3. In its response, the Ministry indicated that the Kingdom of Bahrain has always implemented projects and initiatives that support distance learning, not with the aim of transforming education to become distance learning, but rather to provide learning opportunities everywhere and anytime in a manner that ensures the sustainability of learning. The Kingdom of Bahrain has launched the national project “His Majesty King Hamad’s Schools of the Future” in 2005, which focuses on building infrastructure (interconnecting all schools with all their facilities) and providing technical equipment such as computers, electronic whiteboards and training. In addition, an e-learning team was formed in each school comprising all those concerned to manage the change process. Focus was placed on developing the capabilities of teachers and all stakeholders to keep pace with employing modern technology and foster an e-learning culture in schools. 4. In 2010, the development phase of the Project began, in which emphasis was placed on bringing about change at the classroom level by focusing Ninth Annual Report of the NIHR 78

Select target paragraph3