Manama: Bahrain is mulling a US-style university admissions test that will help improve standards at public and private universities, an education ministry official has said.
Under the system, high school graduates planning to attend university will sit for the national exam modelled after the scholastic aptitude test (SAT) to test their ability to continue their studies in a higher education institution.
"Failure to pass the obligatory test will result in the student not being admitted to any public or private university. He or she will have to resit the exam," Dr Alawi Al Hashemi, the head of higher education, said on Tuesday in a press statement.
At present, few private universities require applicants to sit for an ability test, while the University of Bahrain, the country's largest learning institution with more than 22,000 students, has an aptitude test to help high school graduates choose the branch where they will study.
However, the exam, copied after a Saudi model does not take into consideration several of Bahrain's education system features and has waded into controversy among claims that it can never achieve its goals.
"The national exam will be different from the ones administered by the universities.
It will be prepared by the Ministry of Education and will test the student's readiness to join a university. The universities are free to keep their own tests or to accept scores from other tests, but they cannot admit a student who does not pass the Bahrain national test," Al Hashemi said.
The official did not say when the new exam would be administered, but added the ministry would announce the date soon.
"The system coincides with the opening of the new technology college and the consolidation of applied sciences studies to help meet labour market requirements," he said.
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief