page_title: Education in Bahrain
section_title: Private schools
hierarchical_section_title: Education in Bahrain / Private schools
caption_attribution_description: English: Iranian School in Bahrain 1939 فارسی: مراسم فارغ‌التحصيلي در مدرسۀ ايرانيان (بحرين) سال 1317
context_page_description: Bahrain has the oldest public education system in the Arabian Peninsula. The system was established in 1930 when the Bahraini government assumed responsibility for operating two pre-existing primary public schools for boys. Subsequently, separate girls' schools and various universities were established in the 20th century. According to data from the 2010 census, the literacy rate of Bahrain stands at 94.6%. As of 2016, education expenditure accounts for 2.7% of Bahrain's GDP.
  The Ministry of Education is responsible for education in the country.
context_section_description: In addition to the American Mission School, another foreign private school was opened in 1910; Al-Ittihad school, funded by the Persian community of Bahrain.
  In addition to the public education system, there are forty-eight private and religious schools, including the United States operated and accredited Bahrain School, (which occupies the older school - Awali School built for the children of expat foreign nationals who worked for BAPCO and lived mainly in Awali) in the 1950s. Bahrain School now offers classes from primary school through secondary school, whereas the original "Awali School" provided no secondary education so children went to boarding schools in their home countries after the age of about 11 years. In Bahrain there were 5,000 teachers in 1988, of whom 65 percent were native Bahrainis. Egyptians constituted the largest group of foreign teachers. Bahrain also is home to St Christopher's School, which the Guardian has named as one of the eight best international schools in the world, the only school in the Middle East to make the list. 10 universities provide internationally recognized qualifications. Other notable schools include British School of Bahrain, The Indian School and Sacred Heart School.
caption: Students of the Persian School in 1939.
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