BAHRAIN registered the highest gross school enrolment in the Arab region this year, an international report has revealed. The ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary education was 86.1 per cent for Bahrain, against 74.9 for Kuwait, 77.7 for Qatar and 59.9 for the UAE, said the UNDP Human Development Report (HDR) 2007/2008, which was launched yesterday.
Bahrain also increased its human development index (HDI) value this year, though its global ranking out of 177 countries dropped two places from 39 to 41.
Bahrain is moving in the right direction of human and economic development, Sayed Aqa said.
"Bahrain is progressing on HDI scoring positioning the country at 41," he said.
"It has made good progress compared to last year as its HDI value has improved from 0.859 to 0.866."
"Only two countries in the world have made better progress than Bahrain and both of them happened to be GCC members - Qatar and the UAE."
In global ranking, Kuwait came first in the region ranking 33, followed by Qatar at 35, the UAE at 39 and Bahrain at 41.
Three other countries also came under the high human development group.
They are Libya at 56, Oman at 58 and Saudi Arabia at 61.
Bahrain's HDI value of 0.866 is above the average HDI value for all Arab countries, which stands at 0.699, said Mr Aqa.
"It is also above the average HDI for all developing countries of 0.691."
The HDI measures a country's achievements in terms of life expectancy, educational attainment and standard of living.
Life expectancy at birth in Bahrain increased from 73 in 2004 to 75.2 this year.
This is against 77.3 in Kuwait, 75 in Qatar and 78.3 in the UAE.
The adult literacy rate in Bahrain was 86.5pc, against 93.3pc in Kuwait, 89pc in Qatar and 88.7 in the UAE.
The GDP per capita in Bahrain increased this year to $21,482 (BD8,072) from last year's $20,399 (BD7,665).
The highest GDP per capita was recorded in Qatar at $27,664 (BD10,396), followed by Kuwait at $26,321 (BD9,891) and the UAE at $25,514 (BD9,588).
"However, when all the HDI components are measured, Bahrain is making a steady progress," said Mr Aqa.
"The HDI for Bahrain has continuously raised every year from 83.9pc in 2003 to 86.6pc in 2007."
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Nazar Al Baharna said the kingdom was not concerned about the drop in its HDI ranking.
"Our HDI value has been steadily increasing, though our resources are limited compared to other Gulf countries," he noted.
"Bahrain has made consistent progress in basic human development indicators over the past 15 years."
During this period, life expectancy at birth increased by nearly four years, GDP per capita rose by 55pc and adult literacy and combined gross enrolment are both four percentage higher than in 1990.
"The education reforms launched in Bahrain have attracted global attention," he noted.
Dr Jassim Hussain MP, who attended the launch, said Bahrain has to make its priorities very clear.
"We have to spend more on education and health care," he suggested.
The rankings...1 Iceland: 2 Norway: 3 Australia: 4 Canada
5 Ireland: 6 Sweden: 7 Switzerland: 8 Japan
9 Netherlands: 10 France: 11 Finland
12 United States: 13 Spain: 14 Denmark
15 Austria: 16 United Kingdom: 17 Belgium
18 Luxembourg: 19 New Zealand: 20 Italy
21 Hong Kong, China: 22 Germany: 23 Israel
24 Greece: 25 Singapore: 26 South Korea
27 Slovenia: 28 Cyprus: 29 Portugal 30 Brunei Darussalam: 31 Barbados: 32 Czech Republic
33 Kuwait: 34 Malta 35 Qatar: 36 Hungary
37 Poland: 38 Argentina 39 UAE: 40 Chile
41 Bahrain: 42 Slovakia: 43 Lithuania
44 Estonia 45 Latvia: 46 Uruguay: 47 Croatia
48 Costa Rica:49 Bahamas: 50 Seychelles
51 Cuba: 52 Mexico: 53 Bulgaria
54 Saint Kitts and Nevis: 55 Tonga: 56 Libya
57 Antigua and Barbuda: 58 Oman
59 Trinidad and Tobago
60 Romania: 61 Saudi Arabia: 62 Panama
63 Malaysia 64 Belarus: 65 Mauritius
66 Bosnia and Herzegovina: 67 Russia
68 Albania: 69 Macedonia: 70 Brazil
71 Dominica 72 Saint Lucia: 73 Kazakhstan
74 Venezuela 75 Colombia: 76 Ukraine
77 Samoa: 78 Thailand
79 Dominican Republic: 80 Belize: 81 China
82 Grenada: 83 Armenia
84 Turkey: 85 Suriname: 86 Jordan
87 Peru: 88 Lebanon 89 Ecuador
90 Philippines: 91 Tunisia: 92 Fiji
93 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
94 Iran: 95 Paraguay: 96 Georgia
97 Guyana: 98 Azerbaijan: 99 Sri Lanka
100 Maldives 101 Jamaica: 102 Cape Verde
103 El Salvador: 104 Algeria: 105 Vietnam
106 Occupied Palestinian Territories
107 Indonesia 108 Syria :109 Turkmenistan
110 Nicaragua: 111 Moldova: 112 Egypt
113 Uzbekistan: 114 Mongolia: 115 Honduras
116 Kyrgyzstan: 117 Bolivia: 118 Guatemala
119 Gabon: 120 Vanuatu: 121 South Africa
122 Tajikistan: 123 S‹o TomŽ and Principe
124 Botswana: 125 Namibia: 126 Morocco
127 Equatorial Guinea: 128 India
129 Solomon Islands 130 Lao People's Democratic Republic: 131 Cambodia: 132 Myanmar
133 Bhutan: 134 Comoros
135 Ghana: 136 Pakistan: 137 Mauritania
138 Lesotho: 139 Congo: 140 Bangladesh
141 Swaziland: 142 Nepal: 143 Madagascar
144 Cameroon: 145 Papua New Guinea
146 Haiti: 147 Sudan: 148 Kenya
149 Djibouti: 150 Timor-Leste: 151 Zimbabwe
152 Togo: 153 Yemen: 154 Uganda: 155 Gambia 156 Senegal: 157 Eritrea: 158 Nigeria: 159 Tanzania
160 Guinea: 161 Rwanda: 162 Angola: 163 Benin 164 Malawi: 165 Zambia: 166 C™te d'Ivoire
167 Burundi: 168 Congo: 169 Ethiopia: 170 Chad 171 Central African Republic: 172 Mozambique
173 Mali: 174 Niger: 175 Guinea-Bissau
176 Burkina Faso: 177 Sierra Leone
Source: Gulf Daily News
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