Diyar Al Muharraq has signed a land sale agreement with Medad Real Estate Company for developing Al Safwa Private School within its development in Bahrain.

The school will be constructed by Kooheji Contractors on a total land area of 30,000 sq m, located opposite the Diyar Homes neighbourhood close to the main entrance of the Diyar Al Muharraq, fully- integrated modern city, said Dr Maher Al Shaer, the CEO of the leading urban developer Diyar Al Muharraq, after signing the deal with Abdul Ghaffar Al Kooheji, board chairman of Medad Real Estate Company.

Medad Real Estate Company is part of the Bahrain-based Kooheji group of companies. 

With a 3,000-sq-m built-up area over three floors, the facility will be the first in the new Al Safwa Group of schools and will be operated in co-operation with the Swedish school operators Kedtech, stated Al Shaer in the presence of Mikael Leijonberg, consul of the Swedish Embassy and officials from Bahrain Economic development Board (EDB), Aref Sadeq consultancy firm and Kedtech.

Welcoming Al Safwa School into the fold, Al Shaer said: "Education is a top priority for us. Having succeeded in attracting highly reputed international schools to our project, we are moving even closer to attaining our prime objective for Diyar Al Muharraq, to be a fully integrated modern city with all facilities provided whether for residential, educational , commercial or entertainment purposes."

"Al Safwa School is considered to be a new vital educational resource for not only the residents of Diyar Al Muharraq, but also for pupils from all over the kingdom," he stated.

"The three-storey building will be a K12 school catering to Bahrainis as well as expat students. Once ready, it will be able to handle nearly 3,000 students," he added.

The construction work will begin next month and the school is due to start its operation in September 2016.

Commenting on the deal, Vivian Jamal, the executive director (Business Development) at the EDB, said: "Bahrain enjoys a prosperous education sector with developed public education and high-level training programmes, in addition to a number of private schools that offer excellent curriculums from all over the world."

"Supplementing the sector with more specialised schools will no doubt contribute to raising efficiency and will provide high-quality education to the largest possible number of students. Through such agreements we are hoping to help young Bahrainis learn to the highest available standards in order for them to become productive members of society and to allow them to take on jobs that meet their level of education in the future," she stated.  

The EDB has played an active role in this agreement by inviting Kedtech to visit Bahrain in order to view the site location and to learn more about the kingdom’s strengths in the education sector.

It also facilitated a number of meetings with potential investors from the private sectorin order to facilitate reaching an agreement to establish the school at Diyar Al Muharraq.

Al Kooheji said: "Throughout our 40 years of operation in Bahrain, we are honoured to have contributed considerably to the development of the kingdom. For us, schools and education of the next generation has been a strong interest."

"We consider Diyar Al Muharraq as a natural location for a school intending to set a new standard for Bahraini education with its unique offerings on par with the highest international standards, and in compliance with Internationally accredited curriculums such as the Cambridge Board covering a comprehensive list of subjects such as Arabic and foreign languages, Science, History, Arts and Islamic studies, to fulfil the needs of the Bahraini society. We are indeed committed to the development of Bahrain and its next generation of leaders," he added.

Kedtech CEO Odd Eiken said the group has been operating 50 schools with more than 15,000 students and are active in Sweden, England, US, India, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

"All our activities are based on the conviction that 21st century schools should extensively use modern technology and they should provide both the highest international standards and a strong anchorage in local language, culture and values," he noted.

"In extensive preparatory work and discussions with the Kooheji Group, we have found that we share the same vision for education. We are very excited about the agreement we signed with them pertaining to operating the school and we look forward to put in our best resources to create a state of art school for Bahrain and to become a role model for the region," he added.-TradeArabia News Service