Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): A photograph dating back to 2016 shows the son of the Bahraini Minister of Education, Ali bin Majid Al-Nuaimi, in a meeting with the head of the Civil Service Bureau, Ahmed bin Zayed Al-Zayed, while they were holding together a red display box containing a thick folder. "The head of the service bureau receives his doctorate from Ali Al-Nuaimi," the official BNA news agency reported on July 25, 2016.

The folder contained his doctoral dissertation entitled "State Responsibility for Mistakes of the Public Employee". He quickly showed it off to state officials and ministers in a newly created tradition that government loyalists have resorted to as a means of saying "I am ready to hold high ranking positions."

Al-Zayed congratulated his guest, who was ready to take on a state position, "for the good work done in preparing the dissertation." However, there was one thing they did not pay attention to. As long as it concerns a minister's son at the head of the Ministry of Education, they will not pay heed to it at all.

The PhD degree he "achieved" was awarded by an institute not recognized by the Ministry: The Arab Research and Studies Institute of the Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science of the Arab League." Which ministry? It is the same Ministry his father heads, which he has been residing in for about a decade and a half (since 2002). During his tenure and not someone else's, a statement was issued by the ministry in 2010 stating that there are "Gulf reservations regarding the outputs of the Institute of Arab Research and Studies linked to the Arab League. Therefore, we urge all applicants to avoid registering at the Institute at the present time." The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Teaching and Curriculum Affairs Abdullah Al-Mutawa stressed in the same statement that "the National Qualifications Assessment Committee will refuse to consider any qualifications of new students at the Institute (starting from) Year 2010."

Six years after this announcement, Ali bin Majid Al Nuaimi received his PhD from the Institute. To date, the Ministry has not yet taken the initiative to re-recognize the graduates of the Arab Research and Studies Institute following the year 2010. Scrutiny only applies to the downtrodden and the poor, yet the sons of the ministers are to be celebrated in the Civil Service Bureau.

Arabic Version