Linguistic and educational cooperation

Since 1987, French teaching has been offered at the University of Bahrain, reinforced in 2009 by the integration of the Centre of French Studies in the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Bahrain. The same year, a Royal Decree ranked French language among priority disciplines, making it the second foreign language compulsory to learn at intermediate school, after English. This represents an opportunity for Bahrain to participate in the trilingual education of new generations and to be part of the Francophonie community (300 million speakers worldwide). In the meantime, the number of scholarship increases every year, allowing young Bahrainis to discover French language and culture during tailored-made summer camps. The missions of this Embassy cover also support toward all the actors of French languageincluded the training of French teachers of the Kingdom, whether they teach in public or private schools, or at the University. Trainings are offered on a regular basis, like the Regional “BELC” that took place in Bahrain in 2017.

Besides, the French International School of Bahrain (located in Busaiteen) offers high-level teaching programs and currently accommodate 720 students from kindergarden to French baccalaureate (a widely recognized diploma which opens doors of most international universities). This trilingual school is distinguished by the presence of 120 Bahraini students for this 2018/2019 school year, divided between primary (2/3) and secondary (1/3). All the levels are accredited by the French Ministry of Education.

The Alliance Française (Isa Town) represents also a large part of our cooperation in the field of education, with around 1 200 registrations every year. This language and cultural centre delivers official diplomas of French (DELF, DALF/TCF/TEF), certified by the French Ministry of National Education and valid for life, regarding the DELF/DALF.