Bahrain is the smallest Gulf state and has one of the largest Indian schools anywhere: the Indian School Bahrain, community-run, CBSE, with the main campus in Isa Town and a second in Riffa, and more than ten thousand students. Around it are the private CBSE schools, smaller and dearer. This guide is for a family arriving in Bahrain or moving school: the schools, what the fees are like, how admission and a transfer from India work, the year and the week, and how to choose, with the honest note that in Bahrain, unlike Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, a tuition centre is an option too.
The schools
| School | Run by | Campus | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian School Bahrain (ISB) | The Indian community, through an elected executive committee, under the Embassy's patronage | Isa Town (main), Riffa | The largest; the lowest fee; the one most Indian families use; sections of 40 to 45 |
| New Millennium School | Private | Isa Town area | CBSE; mid fee; smaller sections |
| New Indian School | Private | Riffa | CBSE; mid fee; the Riffa alternative to ISB's branch |
| Asian School | Private | Isa Town area | CBSE; mid fee |
| Al Noor International School | Private | Sitra area | CBSE and a British stream; higher fee |
| Smaller private Indian schools | Private | Manama and Riffa | Check the CBSE affiliation number on the school's website |
All follow NCERT and the April-to-March year, with the board exams in February and March sat in Bahrain with the same papers as India.
The fees, and what they buy
ISB's fee is set by its executive committee, published by class, and revised rarely; it is the low-fee option by a wide margin, which is why the waiting list is long. The private CBSE schools charge more, with Al Noor's British stream at the top; the British and American international schools in Bahrain charge several times more again. We do not reprint the figures because they change yearly; the school's fee page is the only reliable source.
The syllabus and the board are the same in every one of them. The fee buys the section size (40 to 45 at ISB, 25 to 35 at the private schools), the campus, and the subject choice in Class 11 and 12. It does not buy attention in maths and science, and in a section of 45 the child who loses the thread in fractions or in the first algebra is not noticed until the term result.
The year and the week
April to March; first-term exams before the Diwali break; pre-boards in December and January for Class 10 and 12; board exams in February and March. The school week is Sunday to Thursday, with Friday and Saturday off, and the school day ends early. Arabic is compulsory in the lower classes under Bahraini rules; Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil are offered as second languages at most schools.
Admission and the transfer from India
ISB's KG and Class 1 admissions open once a year for the April start, announced on the school website, and the list is long; parents join the school's society as members, which is how the community runs it. Transfers into Class 2 to 9 depend on seats; Class 10 and 12 transfers are restricted by CBSE's rules, so a family moving with a child in a board year should talk to the school before the move. The documents: the transfer certificate from the previous school, countersigned by the district education officer or the CBSE regional office and attested; the last report card; the child's passport and CPR card; the birth certificate; passport photographs.
How to choose, and where tuition fits
Most Indian families in Bahrain choose ISB, for the fee, the size of the community and the ease of moving back to India; families who want smaller sections and can pay choose a private CBSE school; families staying long term and sending the child abroad look at Al Noor's British stream or the international schools. The maths is the same in all of them, and so is the gap a large section leaves.
Bahrain is the one Gulf state where a tuition centre is a real option, at BHD 8 to 15 an hour in Manama and Riffa. The reason many families still use online tuition from India is the arithmetic: a master's-qualified tutor 1-on-1 on the NCERT chapter the school is on, with the recording of every class, costs about BHD 3.8 to 4.9 an hour, and 4 pm in Bahrain is 6:30 pm for the tutor, an ordinary Indian evening, with Friday and Saturday mornings for the board years. The Gulf pattern is written up for Oman in the Oman guide, for Kuwait in Indian schools in Kuwait and for Saudi Arabia in Indian schools in Riyadh and Jeddah. Our Bahrain page has the class times and the price in dinars. The first 30-minute class is free.
Questions parents ask
1Which are the Indian schools in Bahrain?
2What are the Indian School Bahrain fees?
3How does admission to the Indian School Bahrain work?
4What documents does a transfer from India need?
5Is private tuition allowed in Bahrain?
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Shobha
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Teaching maths, science and English to children online since 2018. 500+ students, 20+ tutors, families in nine countries.