A Word from the Editor Folk Culture Curricula now being taught at Bahrain’s modern schools

The addition of folk culture to the curricula at modern schools run by Bahrain’s Ministry of Education is an achievement for Bahrain’s diverse, deep and rich culture. It proves that the educators in charge of curricula at the Ministry of Education are both wise and farsighted; we are grateful to Education Minister Dr. Majid bin Ali Al Nuaimi and to the administrators, experts and specialists.

This subject would not have received the attention that is its due without efforts to highlight its importance and the significance of its absence in schools; further efforts went into making it accessible to schoolchildren and designing an interesting syllabus.

 The shift wasn’t easy, but dedication, faith, awareness and the subject’s value convinced leaders, the Directorate of Curricula and specialists to experiment on a limited scale in a handful of secondary schools. The experiment proved successful; students responded well and teachers sought to develop the syllabus.
In response, the Directorate of Curricula created secondary school teaching materials that cover the various aspects of folk culture.

From the beginning, the Folk Culture Journal has been a keen supporter of this initiative, working with the relevant parties and influential figures and supplying school libraries with issues of the Journal.
The Journal cooperated with Khalid Al Khaja, Head of the Directorate of Curricula at Bahrain’s Ministry of Education, and helped with the preparation of the teaching materials. A joint team of experts was formed to develop the approach and the curriculum design, and the Journal gave this team access to its archives of images, audiovisual materials and articles.

At the Folk Culture Journal, we look forward to continuing this fruitful cooperation and raising awareness of folk culture.

Once again, we thank the Ministry of Education, Dr. Al Nuaimi, the Directorate of Curricula and the educators, experts and specialists.

This achievement makes us feel that our efforts to date have not been in vain.

Folk Culture Journal