According to the UNDP 2013 report, Bahrain ranks 3rd among Arab states and 48th globally of the countries with very high human development. It ranks the 1st in the Arab world in the Human Development Index (HDI) that is not related to income. This reflects the improvement in the health, education and standard of living indices.
Bahrain has a long history in formal education since 1919 for males, and 1928 for females. It ranks the 1st among the Arab states in the provision of Education for All, without any gender discrimination.
According to the UNESCO report in 2011 and for the fourth consecutive year, Bahrain was among the countries with high index. It has excelled in providing outstanding educational services in basic education stages through 275 private and public schools, of which 204 are public schools that offer free education. The government provides free educational services at all levels for citizens and expatriates. Education in Bahrain is obligatory in basic stages. The higher education institutions provide distinguished teaching outcomes through 22 universities, of which 10 are government universities and colleges.
The UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Education was instituted in 2005. In 2012, Bahrain won the chairmanship of the Executive Council for the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALESCO).
As part of His Majesty King Hamad’s Schools of the Future Project, Bahrain has started implementing information and communication technology in teaching and learning processes. This movement corresponds with the educational and scientific demands of technical development in modern educational curricula as a requirement for a knowledge-based economy.
As for the health sector, Bahrain is distinguished by its long history in modern medicine. It was the first country in the Gulf region to establish a clinic in 1888, and the American Mission Hospital was opened in 1902. Bahrain adopts Health for All policy since 1979. It offers most of the time free and advanced medical services to all citizens and expatriates at nominal prices. It currently has 9 government hospitals, 15 private hospitals, 16 government health centers, 300 private clinics, 5 private companies’ clinics and 6 centers for environmental health.
Bahrain has fulfilled the UNDP Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the health sector five years before the agreed schedule of 2015. Life Expectancy at Birth has increased to 78.5 years due to the availability of access to clean water, sanitation services, free basic health services and medicine to the entire population. The same applies to vaccination against measles, polio, diphtheria and tetanus, which recorded a 100% coverage level. In Bahrain, the under-five child mortality rate amounted to about 9 deaths per thousand live births in 2006 and the infant mortality rate (under one year) reached 7.8 deaths per thousand live births. 99.8% of child deliveries are performed by specialized physicians, and the total fertility rate is 1.8 per woman.