Bahrain

Telecoms operators across Bahrain have become increasingly spectrum-hungry over the past few years. Since the late 2000s, when uptake of smart-phones began to rise sharply, then-existing 3G capacity started to look increasingly inadequate. At the same time, margins of voice services have continued to decline, prompting telecoms firms to seek...

In common with those in many other Gulf countries, the medical system in Bahrain has traditionally relied on foreign personnel to meet a large proportion of its staffing needs. This is partly for historical reasons – the first modern hospitals in the region were set up by American missionaries – and partly due to population size – Bahrain’s...

Home to the first modern hospital in the region, founded by American missionaries in 1902, Bahrain has one of the oldest health care sectors in the Gulf. Over the course of the 20th century, the country developed a comprehensive health care system, substantially modernised with a large injection of funds during the 1970s oil boom. Now the...

Vocational and workplace training has become increasingly important in Bahrain in recent years. Despite economic growth of roughly 4% a year since 2010, according to the World Bank, Bahrain has a fairly high unemployment rate, estimated at 7.4% over the same period, and is higher still among the national population. In large part, this is due...

With the first modern school in the Gulf set up in the country in 1919 and the first girls’ school opened in 1928, Bahrain has one of the longest histories of education in the region. Successive governments have made education a priority, and Bahrain is today home to a comprehensive education system, from nurseries to universities. The country...

Technology has become a more common feature of education globally over the past 20 years, and Bahrain is no exception. Indeed, the country has increasingly turned towards greater use of technology in education. This is partly because the ubiquity of computers means that learning how to use them is an indispensable part of a modern education,...